I. 


GIFT  OF 
Gladys  Isaacson 


BEN-BEOR 

A  STOEY  OF  THE  ANTI-MESSIAH. 

IN  TWO  DIVISIONS. 

PART  I. — LUNAR  INTAGLIOS. 
THE    MAN    IN    THE    MOON, 

A  COUNTERPART  OF  WALLACE'S  "  BEN  HUR." 

PART  II. — HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA. 
THE    WANDERING    GENTILE, 

A  COMPANION  ROMANCE  TO  SUE'S  "  WANDERING  JEW." 


H.   M.   BIEN, 

Author  of '«'  Oriental  Legends"  "Feast  of  Lights  "  "Samson"  "Purim"  etc. 
VlCKSBURG,  MlSS. 


BALTIMORE : 

PRESS  OF  ISAAC  FRIEDENWALD  Co. 
1891. 


COPYRIGHTED,  1891,  BY  H.  M.  BIEN. 


GLADYS     ISAACSON 


TO   HIS    LORDSHIP, 

BARON   DE   HIRSCH, 

THE    MOST   ILLUSTRIOUS 

AND 

COSMOPOLITAN    PHILANTHROPIST, 

THIS   VOLUME    IS   RESPECTFULLY   DEDICATED 

BY 

HIS  DEVOTED  AND  FAITHFUL  ADMIRER, 

THE  AUTHOR. 


jv27847 


PEEFACE. 

"Die  Weltgeschichte  ist  das  Weltgerwht." 


The  history  of  civilization,  culminating  in  the 
successful  establishment  of  the  Republic  of  the 
United  States  of  America  with  her  immense  possi- 
bilities, is  as  important  as  it  is  interesting. 

To  the  investigator  of  human  nature  it  becomes 
patent  that  during  all  the  past  ages  powerful  agen- 
cies have  been  systematically  working  to  suppress 
the  rights  and  liberties  of  the  people;  upholding 
serfdom  and  superstition  for  the  benefit  of  a  few 
privileged  classes. 

Well  may  these  persecutors  and  haters  of  man  be 
called  as  a  unit  "  The  Anti-Messiah,"  whose  story 
under  the  name  of  «  BEN-BEOR  "— a  well-known 
biblical  character,  "BALAAMBEN-BEOK"  (see  Num- 
bers xxii.  5-O.  T.) — is  represented  in  the  following 
pages. 

Incidentally  interwoven  with  the  ultimate  over- 
throw of  the  afoul  conspirator"  are  the  fate  and 
leading  events  of  that  strange  remnant  of  nations, 
"the  Jews."  This  story  will  relate  the  important 
part  played  by  them,  even  in  their  humiliation,  as  a 
mysteriously  divine  power  to  help  on  the  slow  but 
sure  progress  of  the  steadily  coming  ideal  millennium, 


V  PREFACE. 

"when  the   nations   shall  beat  their   swords  into 
plowshares  and  their  spears  into  priming-hooks." 

Volumes  have  been  written  as  history  proper,  of 
continuous  data  and  events.  To  such  the  author  of 
this  story  is  largely  indebted  for  the  groundwork 
material  wrought  into  this  novel.  The  sources  from 
whence  this  information  had  to  be  garnered  are  too 
numerous  for  giving  credit  by  name  in  each  instance. 
Sincere  thanks  are  hereby  tendered  to  one  and  all.  But 
the  reading  masses  at  this  time  do  not  take  kindly 
to  the  bulky  literature  of  the  student;  preferring  to 
be  taught  en  passant)  in  more  interesting  and  lighter 
ways,  by  books  clothed  in  the  attractive  garb  of 
romance,  introducing  into  them  the  important 
records  of  the  past. 

A  large  number  of  original  historical  documents, 
attainable  to  professional  research  only,  are  embodied 
in  the  following  work. 

Such  an  effort  is  attempted  in  this  novel. 

The  book  is  divided  into  two  parts,  each  one  rep- 
resenting the  mysterious  person,  the  "Anti-Messiah," 
around  which  the  interest  of  the  events  to  be  related 
centers  and  is  carried  along. 

These  are  subdivided  into  smaller  episodes,  each 
complete  in  itself,  and  yet  so  connected  as  to  form 
one  unique  whole. 

May  the  humble  trial  of  this  peculiar  authorship 
find  ardent  friends  and  lenient  critics. 

Such  is  the  fervent  hope  and  wish  of 
Yours  devotedly, 

THE  AUTHOR. 


CONTENTS. 


PART  I.— THE  MAN  IN  THE  MOON. 


LUNAR  INTAGLIOS. 

PAGI 

THE  FINDING  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPT.  By  the  Editor  and 

Publisher 3 

THE  FALLING  OF  THE  AEROLITE 4 

INTAGLIO  I. — ON  TO  THE  MOON 7 

INTAGLIO  II. — THE  ROYAL  PROCLAMATION 12 

INTAGLIO  III. — THE  PRIME  MINISTER'S  STATEMENT  .   .       15 
INTAGLIO  IV. — MALKAH  LEVANAH  : 

Section  I.— Her  Mortal  Youth.  Sec.  II.— The 
Finding  of  Moses.  Sec.  III.  —  Balack  and 
Balaam.  Sec.  IV.— The  Wise  Man  of  the  East. 
Sec.  V.— In  Captivity.  Sec.  VI.— The  Blessing 
and  the  Curse.  Sec.  VII.— The  Intoxicating 
Cup.  Sec.  VIII.— After  Death— Spirit  Life  .  .  25 

INTAGLIO  V. — THE  PRISONER'S  EVIDENCE 52 

INTAGLIO  VI.— THE  RECORD  BY  THE  CHIEF  SCRIBE  .   .       57 
INTAGLIO  VII. — HARROWING  SIGHTS  ON  EARTH     ...       59 

INTAGLIO  VIII. — REVOLUTION 62 

ADDENDUM  I.    By  the  Editor  and  Publisher    ....       65 

PART  II.— THE  WANDERING  GENTILE. 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA. 

PHANTASMAGORIA  I. — PECULIAR  HALLUCINATIONS     .   .  71 

PHANTASMAGORIA  II. — TITUS  AND  BERENICE  .    .  80 

PHANTASMAGORIA  III. — SIMON  BAR  GIORA      91 


Vlll  CONTENTS. 

PAGE 

PHANTASMAGORIA  IV. — BETWEEN  SCYLLA  AND  CHARYB- 

DIS 99 

PHANTASMAGORIA  V. — A  WOMAN  SPURNED      .  108 

PHANTASMAGORIA  VI. — THE  RAPE  OF  THE  TABLETS  -  116 
PHANTASMAGORIA  VII. — PRIMITIVE  CHRISTIANITY  .  120 
PHANTASMAGORIA  VIII. — PESTILENCE  AND  FIRE  IN 

ROME 128 

PHANTASMAGORIA  IX. — A  PSEUDO-MOSES 140 

PHANTASMAGORIA  X. — MAHOMET  v.  JUDAISM  .      159 

PHANTASMAGORIA  XI. — THE  LAST  OF  THE  KHAZARS    .      175 

PHANTASMAGORIA  XII. — PETER  THE  HERMIT 190 

PHANTASMAGORIA  XIII. — THE  FIRST  CRUSADE  .  .  .  205 
PHANTASMAGORIA  XIV. — THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  BLOOD 

ACCUSATION       .    .       ...  221 

PHANTASMAGORIA  XV.— BLACK  BARTHEL       ...  229 

PHANTASMAGORIA  XVI  — THE  FLAGELLANTS  ....  236 
Section  I. — How  Strasburg  Became  Free.  Sec.  II. 
—The  Pestilence.  Sec.  III.  —  The  False  Accusa- 
tion. Sec.  IV.— Foiled  Again.  Sec.  V.— The 
Torture.  Sec.  VI.— The  Flagellants  at  Stras- 
burg. Sec.  VII. — Retribution. 

PHANTASMAGORIA  XVII. — TOMASO  TORQUEMADA  .  .  .  273 
Section  I.— A  Retrospect.  Sec.  II. — Mediaeval 
Profundity.  Sec.  III. — A  Momentous  Wed- 
ding. Sec.  IV. — Misericordia  et  Justitia. 
Sec.  V.— The  Fortune  of  Hope  Blasted.  Sec. 
VI.— A  Grand  Auto  da  Fe.  Sec.  VII.— A  Frus- 
trated Complot.  Sec.  VIII.— The  Expulsion  of 
the  Jews.  Sec.  IX.— The  Dawn  of  Light  Afar. 
Sec.  X. — Tomaso  Torquemada. 

PHANTASMAGORIA  XVIII. — THE  ART  OF  ARTS  ...  334 
PHANTASMAGORIA  XIX. — THE  FIGHT  AGAINST  THE 

TALMUD      .    .  347 

Section  I. — Dominicans  and  Franciscans.  Sec.  II. 
— Joseph  Pfefferkorn.  Sec  III.— TheM'Shumet 
at  Work.  Sec.  IV.—  The  Abbess  of  Clarissa. 


CONTENTS.  IX 

PAGE 

Sec.  V.— In  Camp.  Sec.  VI.— The  First  Effort. 
Sec.  VII.— Before  the  Archbishop.  Sec.  VIII. 
—Johannes  Reuchlin.  Sec.  IX. — A  Short  Arm- 
istice. Sec.  X.— Signed,  Sealed  and  Delivered. 
Sec.  XI  -  Aftermath. 
PHANTASMAGORIA  XX. — THE  REFORMATION 389 

Section  I. — A  Change  of  Base.     Sec.  II. — Johan- 
nes Tetzel.    Sec.  III.— The  Fiat  Goes  Forth. 
Sec.  IV.— The  Lull  Before  the  Storm.    Sec.  V. 
—The  Rebel  Thomas  Munzer.     Sec.  VI.— The 
Nuns  of  Nimptsch.     Sec.  VII.— Creed-making 
-  and  its  Results. 
PHANTASMAGORIA  XXI. — SABBATHAI  ZEVI 435 

Section  I. --Beautiful  Esther.      Sec.   II.— Scien- 
tists and  Literati.    Sec.  III. — Sabbathai  Zevi. 
Sec.  IV. --The  Affianced  of  the  Messiah. 
PHANTASMAGORIA    XXII. — THE    CLIMAX  ;     FREEDOM 

TRIUMPHANT      478 

Section  I.— A  Resume.  Sec.  II.— The  Coming 
Crisis.  Sec.  III.— Westward  Ho  !  Sec.  IV.— 
A  Great  Conclave.  Sec.  V. — The  Phantom  of 
the  Sea.  Sec.  VI.— The  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence. Sec.  VII. — The  Recluse  of  the 
Mountains.  Addendum  II.  —  Missing  Links 
Found.  Sec.  VIII. --The  Last  Episode :— Rabbi 
Perez  Mendes'  Story. 


PART  I. 


LUNAR    INTAGLIOS 


THE  MAN  IN  THE  MOON. 


A   STORY 

TRANSLATED     FROM    HEBREW    INSCRIPTIONS 
FOUND  ON  AN  AEROLITE 


A  RECLUSE  OF  THE  MOUNTAINS 


THE  FINDING  OF  THE  MANUSCRIPTS. 

The  editor  and  publisher  owes  it  to  the  readers 
of  "  Ben  Beor"  to  explain  how  he  came  into  pos- 
session of  the  manuscripts  containing  that  story. 
During  a  destructive  conflagration  which  ravaged 
the  part  of  New  York  where  he  was  domiciled, 
he  had  the  misfortune  to  lose  an  extensive  and  val- 
uable library.  This  made  it  necessary  for  him  to 
commence  anew  to  collect  books,  the  tools  of  his 
profession.  Ever  alert  now  for  this  object,  the  fol- 
lowing advertisement  in  one  of  the  great  dailies 
attracted  his  instant  attention  : 

"For  Sale:  A  large  number  of  second-hand 
books.  Will  be  disposed  of  at  a  bargain,  as  the 
owner  requires  the  room  of  their  present  storage. 
Apply,  etc.,  etc" 

Repairing  to  the  address  given,  a  large  commer- 
cial establishment  of  the  city,  after  a  short  exami- 
nation of  the  volumes,  a  bargain  was  struck,  and  the 
complete  library  of  a  Hebrew  theologian,  "  Rabbi 
Perez  Mendes,"  transferred  to  the  shelves  of  the 
new  purchaser.  The  original  owner  of  these  liter- 
ary treasures,  who  had  officiated  for  many  years  as 
the  minister  of  a  leading  Jewish  congregation,  was 
dead.  His  only  daughter,  Judith,  had  been  mar- 
ried to  one  of  the  merchant  princes  of  the  metrop- 
olis. She  too  had  departed  this  life.  Her  be- 
reaved husband  became  the  owner  of  these  books. 
A  fine  financier  and  successful  importer,  the 
otherwise  excellent  man  had  no  literary  tastes,  and 
the  library  taking  up  a  great  deal  of  house-room, 
was  packed  into  boxes  and  sent  for  storage  to  his 

(3) 


BEN  BEOR. 


warehouse.  Here  the  collection  was  found  to  be 
ill/the^  way,  aleo,  and  so  it  was  sold.  One  of  the 
cases  had  been  tilled  with  written  matter,  no  doubt 
of  great  importance  to  its  owner,  but  useless  and 
of  no  value  to  any  one  else.  Sketches  of  sermons, 
outlines  for  learned  disquisitions,  and  some  abstruse 
linguistic  studies  made  up  the  greater  part  of  the 
papers. 

At  the  bottom  of  this  case,  however,  carefully 
preserved,  were  found  two  immense  rolls  of  manu- 
scripts. These  naturally  excited  the  finder's  curi- 
osity. On  opening,  and  perusing  the  contents, 
which  occupied  several  days,  he  was  rewarded  with 
the  discovery  of  one  of  the  most  quaint  and  ab- 
sorbing narratives  imaginable.  Believing  that 
others  would  be  delighted,  amused  and  instructed 
by  what  seems  more  than  the  hallucinations  of  the 
over-excited  brain  of  the  author — "A  Recluse  of 
the  Mountains," — the  complete  story  is  here  laid 
before  an  intelligent  and  cultured  reading  world. 


A  STRANGE  PRELIMINARY  EPISODE. 

THE   FALL   OF   THE    AEROLITE. 

Near  the  southeastern  boundary  of  New  York, 
at  the  foot  of  Mount  Riga,  in  early  times,  there  ex- 
isted a  great  natural  wonder.  It  was  a  cavern  or 
passageway  into  the  mountain.  Its  opening  re- 
sembled a  roughly  cut  doorway  into  a  great  rock. 
A  diminutive  stream  of  water  trickled  down  from 
the  heights  through  this  opening.  The  way  into 
the  cave  was  a  sharp  downward  incline,  in  the 
shadow  of  giant  trees,  and  among  ugly  looking 
boulders,  strewn  around  as  if  by  some  mighty 
volcanic  upheaval.  Viewed  from  the  bottom  and 


LUNAR  INTAGLIOS.  5 

looking  up  from  its  deep  recesses,  it  appears  as 
though  there  had  once  been  a  narrow  chasm,  but 
by  some  mighty  eruptive  disturbance,  sending  huge 
masses  downward,  the  rocks  had  met  at  the  top, 
and  partly  filling  the  opening,  left  but  a  treacher- 
ous footpath  through  it  all. 

Here,  towards  the  end  of  the  summer  in  the  year 
1776,  a  strange  event  transpired.  It  is  midnight. 
A  dense  darkness  prevails.  Ever  since  noon,  heavy, 
ominous  clouds  have  hung  over  this  region.  Sud- 
denly the  storm  bursts  forth  in  all  its  fury.  A  tor- 
nado of  wind  drives  the  rain  in  sheets  over  the 
drenched  ground.  Incessant  flashes  of  lightning 
cross  the  skies.  Amidst  the  uninterrupted  roll  of 
thunder  can  be  heard  the  fall  of  majestic  oaks, 
snapped  like  saplings  by  the  storm. 

Far  away  on  the  horizon,  amidst  the  screeching 
and  howling  of  the  elements,  a  spark  of  fire  ap- 
pears. As  it  circles  nearer  and  nearer  it  increases 
in  size  and  luminosity.  It  lights  up  the  murky  sky 
for  miles.  At  its  swift  approach  the  revolt  of  na- 
ture increases,  as  if  to  herald  the  nearing  of  the 
startling  phenomenon. 

On  comes  the  ball  of  fire,  increasing  in  intensity. 
A  train  of  sparks,  looking  as  if  millions  of  stars 
had  been  hurled  from  above,  accompanies  the 
flaming  stranger. 

The  place  from  which  I,  "  The  Recluse  of  the 
Mountains,"  had  intently  observed  this  atmospheric 
commotion,  is  the  entrance  of  the  cave,  at  the  foot 
of  this  declivity,  where  I  now  dwell.  Terrified,  I 
fly  to  my  subterranean  abode.  The  celestial  visitor 
of  midnight  strikes  the  earth  with  a  deafening 
crash,  right  at  my  door,  thereby  making  a  prisoner 
of  me — walled  in,  as  it  were,  in  the  bowels  of  the 
earth.  In  my  consternation,  I  did  not  at  first  com- 
prehend my  horrible  situation ;  but  the  intense 


6  BEN  BEOR. 

heat  of  the  monster-meteor,  as  I.  now  saw  the  fiery 
body  to  be,  soon  brought  me  to  my  senses.  What 
am  I  to  do  ? — aged  and  feeble,  with  no  other  tools 
than  yonder  spade  and  hammer!  Should  I  be 
spared  a  fearful  death  by  being  roasted  alive,  my 
provisions  will  soon  give  out  and  I  must  die  of 
starvation.  Was  ever  man  so  terribly  situated  ? 

Thick  beads  of  perspiration  drip  from  my  fore- 
head. In  my  frenzied  despair  I  snatch  the  ham- 
mer. Scarcely  knowing  what  I  do,  I  approach  the 
boulder,  and  with  all  the  power  left  in  my  withered 
arms,  strike.  Am  I  awake,  or  is  all  this  a  dream  ? 
As  if  by  magic,  the  monster  which  holds  me  im- 
prisoned falls  to  pieces.  In  my  joy  at  being  re- 
leased from  my  awful  predicament,  I  did  not  at 
first  notice  that  the  aerolite  had  broken  into  long, 
even  slabs.  As  soon,  however,  as  I  became  aware 
of  it,  irrepressible  curiosity  took  possession  of  me. 
I  approach  the  debris  and  examine  the  plates  by 
their  own  light.  They  are  red-hot.  One  of  them 
lies  with  its  inside  surface  turned  directly  towards 
me.  I  can  scarcely  believe  my  eyes :  it  is  covered 
from  top  to  bottom  with  writing  —  characters 
which  I  recognize  to  be  Hebrew.  I  now  proceed 
with  great  caution  to  make  egress  and  ingress  pos- 
sible. It  is  daylight  when,  with  my  few  utensils, 
I  succeed  in  removing  the  obstacles  out  of  my 
way  by  carefully  drawing  them  inside  of  my  cave. 
Spread  out  as  the  parts  lay  there,  it  took  several 
days  before  they  cooled  sufficiently  to  be  easily 
handled.  All  were  numbered,  and  therefore  easily 
arranged  in  consecutive  order. 

I  am  impatient  to  commence  the  work  of  trans- 
lating the  strange  inscriptions  into  the  English 
language.  Once  perfectly  familiar  with  the  vernac- 
ular of  the  Scriptures,  it  is  years  since  I  had  occa- 
sion to  use  it.  I  must  obtain  the  necessary  books 


LUNAR   INTAGLIOS.  7 

to  refresh  my  memory.  This  is  a  difficult  task. 
Procuring  a  trusty  messenger,  one  who  had  done 
errands  for  me  before,  I  gave  him  written  instruc- 
tions and  despatched  him  to  the  city.  When  at 
last  he  returned,  he  brought  some  old,  worm-eaten 
tomes — a  Hebrew  Pentateuch,  grammar  and  dic- 
tionary. And  now  there  commenced  for  me  the 
absorbing  study  of  the  intricacies  and  irregularities 
of  the  Oriental  tongue.  The  worry  with  these, 
and  my  impatience  to  unravel  the  mysteries  on  the 
plates,  were  so  engrossing  that  I  forgot  everything 
else — yea,  as  it  will  be  shown  in  the  sequel,  my 
own  identity.  It  became  a  mania,  a  perfect  hallu- 
cination, straining  the  tension  of  my  mind  to  its 
utmost. 

At  the  expiration  of  a  long  time — I  cannot  now 
tell  the  number  of  weeks  and  months — I  felt  com- 
petent to  commence  my  ardent  labors.  From  the 
very  start,  the  story  therein  revealed  became  so  en- 
trancing, so  absorbing  that  I  did  not  rest  until 
the  whole  record  on  the  meteor  was  completely 
translated.  The  precious  sheets,  which  came  to  me 
so  strangely,  are  certainly  the  hugest  intaglios  in 
existence,  and  embody,  as  I  shall  give  it  here,  the 
full  history  of  that  mystic  person  called  "  THE 
MAN  IN  THE  MOON." 


INTAGLIO  THE  FIRST. 

ON,  TO    THE    MOON. 

Herewith  is  submitted  an  account  of  events  which 
recently  transpired  here,  on  the  Moon;  inclusive 
of  authentic  testimony  relating  thereto ;  inscribed 
by  duly  authorized  experts,  upon  plates  of  jasper, 
in  my  native  tongue,  the  holy  Hebrew  language. 


8  BEN  BEOR. 

These  were  delivered  to  me,  the  Prophet  Elijah, 
after  being  collected  with  greatest  care  by  the  offi- 
cial scribes,  on  command  of  their  royal  master. 
The  leaves  of  stone,  now  carefully  cemented  to- 
gether, I  shall  send  earthward  through  space,  from 
this  planet,  the  Moon;  trusting  that  they  may 
safely  reach  at  the  appointed  time  my  native 
globe.  May  it  then  be  vouchsafed  that  some  sa- 
gacious and  learned  person  find  them.  Such  a  one 
will  discover  that  the  apparently  solid  block  con- 
sists of  finely  divided  slabs,  on  which  he  may  read 
a  full  account  of  a  fierce  and  most  terrific  rebel- 
lion, suppressed  by  me,  which  threatened  to  destroy 
and  perhaps  utterly  annihilate  this  lunar  hemi- 
sphere, and  also,  as  seemed  most  likely,  of  a  large 
portion  of  the  inhabited  earth  and  stellar  worlds. 

These  celestial  annals  will  constitute  an  eternal 
warning  to  all  ambitious  malefactors  and  wicked, 
crafty  schemers ;  teaching  them  the  supreme  les- 
son that  a  higher  Power  forever  rules  arid  watches 
over  the  destinies  of  the  universe,  which  no  auda- 
cious interference  may  thwart  or  ungodly  opposi- 
tion can  annul. 

Know  then  that  the  fiery  chariot  in  which  I 
was  so  mysteriously  and  miraculously  translated 
from  the  abode  of  human  mortals,  a  detailed 
account  of  which  is  given  in  sacred  scripture 
(2  Kings  xi.),  rose  from  my  Palestinian  father- 
land, steadily  and  with  measureless  velocity, 
through  the  endless  spheres.  The  wonderful  ve- 
hicle must  have  appeared  to  my  astounded  dis- 
ciples like  a  flaming  monster.  Propelled  by  the 
power  of  two  enormous  wings,  it  carried  me  up- 
ward with  ease  and  comfort.  I  lost  all  knowledge 
of  time  and  space,  and  ceased  to  feel  the  wants  and 
necessities  of  my  former  nature.  Thus  I  drifted 
along,  experiencing  the  most  delightful  sensations. 


LUNAR   INTAGLIOS.  9 

Many,  many  years  of  mundane  reckoning  must 
have  elapsed,  when  at  last  I  came  in  sight  of  a 
luminous  heavenly  body.  Nearer  and  nearer  I 
approached.  As  the  distance  decreased,  views, 
gorgeous  in  beauty  and  splendor,  appeared  on  this 
orb.  I  could  distinguish  mountains,  lit  up  on  their 
tops  with  a  sheen  of  silver,  rubies  and  roses. 
Shortly  after,  oceans,  lakes  and  rivers  came  in 
sight,  forming  indescribable  combinations  of  brilli- 
ant colors.  Valleys  came  into  view,  where  grew 
trees,  the  grandeur  of  whose  foliage  exceeded  any- 
thing I  had  ever  seen.  I  soon  also  beheld  plains 
studded  with  a  luxuriant  growth  of  vegetation  and 
flowers,  beautiful  beyond  all  mortal  imagination, 
and  whose  perfumes,  superlatively  sweet  and  exhila- 
rating, already  reached  me.  Amidst  these  I  sighted 
a  colossal,  seemingly  endless  semicircle  of  heaven- 
towering  buildings,  whose  roofs  and  spires  glistened 
in  the  morning  sun  like  columns  of  porphyry 
studded  with  diamonds  and  sapphires.  From  my 
yet  dizzy  height  I  saw  a  public  square  extending 
for  miles.  This  was  black  in  many  places  with 
stirring,  fiercely  lighting,  wildly  gesticulating  crea- 
tures. As  I  came  still  nearer  I  noticed  that  their 
furious  combat  abruptly  ceased.  I  perceived  also 
that  the  contestants  resembled  my  own  kind,  but 
were  of  a  ghastly,  fierce  and  combative  nature.  At 
last  my  chariot  landed  right  in  the  centre  of  the 
circle.  One  army  of  the  heaving,  shouting  multi- 
tude made  ready  to  throw  itself  frantically  upon 
my  person,  when  he  who  seemed  to  be  leader  of 
the  other  party  of  warriors,  exercising  all  his 
authority  and  energy,  protected  me  from  them. 

I  alighted  from  my  chariot,  and  as  I  set  my  feet 
on  the  apparently  solid  ground,  I  felt  a  peculiar  re- 
bounding sensation  at  every  step.  It  seemed  as  if 
I  was  carried  involuntarily  forward.  However, 


10  BEN  BEOR. 

there  was  no  time  granted  me  for  any  special 
observation.  The  august  leader,  after  a  short  con- 
sultation, advanced  with  his  followers,  close  to 
where  I  had  halted.  By  an  instantaneous  inspira- 
tion I,  according  to  our  Oriental  fashion,  bowed 
myself  repeatedly  and  deeply  to  the  ground.  Imi- 
tating my  example,  he  and  his  host  also,  and  in  the 
same  manner,  made  obeisances.  Imagine  my  great 
astonishment  when  their  chief  addressed  to"me,  in 
correct  and  fluent  biblical  Hebrew,  the  following 
greeting : 

"  Hail,  illustrious  messenger  of  the  Lord  !  Wel- 
come to  the  Moon  !  Thy  coming  has  been  foretold 
in  our  annals  and  traditions.  The  Holy  One  be 
glorified,  that  He  hath  vouchsafed  to  let  us  behold 
thee  face  to  face.  Know  then,  we  have  long 
awaited  thee.  At  no  time  could  thy  arrival  among 
the  children  of  the  '  Levanah '  (Moon)  have  been 
more  opportune  and  welcome  than  on  this  day, 
for  we  are  in  great  need,  trouble  and  anxiety. 
Often  have  we  cried  out  unto  the  Lord  for  mercy 
and  aid,  and  have  lifted  up  our  eyes  unto  the  endless 
heights  whence  shall  come  our  help.  Blessed  be 
thy  coming  among  us,  and"  may  be  blessed  thy 
dwelling  in  our  midst !" 

These  words  sounded  to  me,  not  like  human 
speech,  but  like  the  notes  from  a  trumpet.  As 
soon  as  he  had  concluded,  his  attendants,  from  be- 
neath their  magnificent  garbs,  produced  small,  opa- 
line instruments,  and  placing  them  to  their  lips, 
they  brought  forth  such  strains  of  melodious  music 
as  never  before  had  greeted  human  ears. 

Then  marching  ahead,  their  chief  placed  his  arm 
in  mine  and  led  me  triumphantly  into  a  magnifi- 
cent edifice  which  stood  conspicuously  out  in  gran- 
deur and  beauty  from  all  the  rest.  Close  as  he 
was  to  me,  I  could  not  feel  his  touch  ;  but  by  some 


LUNAR  INTAGLIOS.  11 

unknown  influence  I  was  impelled  forward  with  a 
motion  which  resembled  the  modulated  heaving  to 
and  fro  of  a  wrell-trained  camel.  We  soon  en- 
tered the  portals  of  the  gorgeous  palace  of  him 
whom  I  learned  to  be  titled  "  Melech  Haivanah." 
The  whole  imperial  establishment,  with  its  fabu- 
lous wealth,  comfort,  and  a  countless  retinue  of  ser- 
vants, was  placed  at  my  disposal.  The  chief  then 
informed  me  that  he  and  his  people  considered  me 
of  divine  authority,  and  that  as  such  I  was  now 
constituted  their  highest  judicial  tribune.  Oral 
and  documentary  evidence  would  at  the  earliest 
possible  moment  be  brought  before  me.  This  ap- 
pertained to  a  stirring  and  ominous  event— a  revo- 
lution— now  agitating  all  the  lunar  inhabitants.  I 
was  to  finally  adjudge  the  transgressors. 

A  sovereign  proclamation  was  at  once  issued  to 
every  part  of  the  satellite,  for  the  purpose  of  im- 
mediately assembling  the  inhabitants,  to  give  testi- 
mony and  hear  judgment. 

It  was  now  night.  A  semi-darkness,  which  fol- 
lows gradually  the  brilliancy  of  a  long  day,  bring- 
ing out  in  magnificent  splendor  all  the  visible 
constellations  of  the  horizon.  As  I  stand  in  one 
of  the  huge  porticoes  of  this  palace,  gazing  heaven- 
wards, I  behold  with  amazement  what  I  believe  to 
be  the  earth.  Resembling  a  gigantic  ball  of 
polished  steel,  it  sweeps  through  the  spheres  in 
majestic  grandeur.  But  most  bewildering  and 
overwhelming  is  the  appearance  in  that  section  of 
the  sky  where  the  sun  has  lately  disappeared. 
There,  at  this  instant,  the  sky  is  lit  up  like  an  iri- 
descent crown,  from  which  extend  longer  or  shorter 
volumes  of  rays,  now  one-colored,  blending  white; 
now  in  all  the  brilliant  hues  and  tints  of  a  rain- 
bow, enveloping  the  gorgeous  landscape  in  a  sheen 
and  halo  of  supreme  glory. 


12  BEN  BEOR. 

INTAGLIO  THE  SECOND. 

THE    KOYAL    PROCLAMATION. 

We,  Meleeh  and  Malkah,  King  and  Queen  of 
the  Moon,  with  strange  and  deeply  apprehensive 
emotions  for  which  our  speech  yields  no  fitting  ex- 
pression, issue  this  our  sacred  and  regal  proclama- 
tion, for  the  purpose  of  exposing  the  causes  of  the 
revolutionary  state  in  our  realm  : 

We  command  that  from  the  ranks  of  our  im- 
perial scribes  a  number  of  the  most  distinguished 
for  diction,  erudition  and  skill  be  hereby  commis- 
sioned to  indite  upon  imperishable  material,  at  the 
will  and  pleasure  of  our  Messianic  messenger,  sent 
to  us  by  the  Father  of  the  universe,  the  full  text 
of  this  our  sovereign  mandate,  together  with  such 
testimony  and  evidence  as  will  be  given  by  the 
chiefs  and  sages  of  our  people,  relative  to  our 
present  condition.  Let  our  confidential  counselors 
and  advisers  appear  and  fully  relate  the  awful 
events  which  have  resulted  in  the  present  danger- 
ous attitude  among  our  subjects. 

To  this  time,  before  the  thoughts  of  our  people 
were  disturbed  by  non-lunar  agitations  and  agita- 
tors, ours  was  a  condition  without  grief,  sorrow 
or  envy.  Here  we  are  placed  on  probation,  to  re- 
deem ourselves  gradually,  and  be  re-accepted  by 
the  great  Father,  whom  in  our  existence  in  a 
former  life  we  had  offended.  From  time  immemo- 
rial, all  who  have  been  privileged  to  rise  to  this 
preliminary  state  of  atonement  have  steadily  and 
conscientiously  labored  to  attain  the  object  of  their 
ultimate  reconciliation  with  our  Creator.  This 
task  of  merciful  redemption  continued  until — woe 
-to  the  hour! — a  person  crafty,  skilful,  learned  and 
unregenerated  came  among  us.  Disappointed  am- 
bition and  jealous  passion  were  rekindled  in  him 


LUNAR   INTAGLIOS.  13 

soon  after  his  arrival.  Traitor  and  rebel,  lie  inces- 
santly has  tried  to  seduce  our  unwary  people  into 
his  wicked  schemes.  The  first  evidence  of  his 
retrogression  was  by  his  inventing  and  constructing 
a  huge  eye-tube,  with  great  magnifying  power.  He 
must  have  learned  this  art  from  the  "  astrologers 
of  earth,"  perverting  the  beneficent  use  of  ad- 
vanced science  there,  to  his  own  selfish  plans  and 
objects  here.  For  this  purpose  he  utilized  the 
crystallized  rocks  of  our  mountains.  On  one  of 
the  highest  eminences  which  tower  over  this  city 
he  had  erected  his  observatory,  and  from  there 
learned  whatever  transpires  on  earth,  communicat- 
ing industriously  the  guilty  knowledge  to  the 
eager,  listening  and  excited  people.  Permission  to 
erect  these  buildings  had  been  obtained  by  false 
and  hypocritical  representations.  The  vacillating 
multitude  had  been  continually  informed,  for  a 
revolutionary  purpose,  which  he  had  most  cun- 
ningly devised,  of  whatever  was  going  on  over 
yonder  on  the  mundane  sphere,  in  whose  wake  our 
lunar  globe  follows.  A  great  many  of  you,  our 
people,  were  thus  led  astray  by  this  arch-fiend,  who 
schemed  to  use  you  for  vengeance  on  your  sover- 
eigns. Your  sleeping  passions  awakened,  and 
your  curiosity  inflamed,  you  gloat  greedily  on  all 
the  folly,  sin  and  crime  transpiring  continually  on 
our  terrestrial  neighbor.  By  this  wicked  waste  of 
your  energies,  your  dormant  mortal  vices  have 
been  re-aroused,  and  these  have  caused  among  us  a 
perilous  state  of  revolutionary  commotion.  With 
the  ordinary  means  at  our  command,  we  can  no 
longer  control  the  mutiny.  Newcomers  continu- 
ally arriving,  as  heretofore,  shadow-creatures  like 
ourselves,  yet  in  the  lowest  state  of  spiritual  de- 
velopment, instead  of  falling  into  line  to  work  out 
by  slow  degrees  the  task  of  regaining  their  lost 


14  BEN  BEOR. 

perfection,  now  join  blindly  our  ungovernable,  re- 
bellious subjects. 

Worse  than  this,  the  same  scheming  brain 
which  produced  that  ill-omened  eye-tube  has  lately 
discovered  and  mixed  chemicals  of  the  most  terrific 
explosive  power.  We  were  in  duty  bound  to  forc- 
ibly seize  and  confiscate  them.  Experiments  made 
in  our  presence  prove  conclusively  that  with  a 
sufficient  quantity  of  this  new,  hitherto  unknown 
compound,  a  large  portion  of  the  visible  universe 
might  be  blown  into  atoms.  We  have  caused  this 
dangerous  person  to  be  held  in  solitary  confine- 
ment. A  large  quantity  of  the  terrible  substance 
which  he  manufactured  lias  been  carefully  con- 
cealed, and  the  place  of  its  storage  watched  day 
and  night  by  trusty  servants.  The  knowledge  of 
the  existence  of  this  murderous  mixture  has  gotten 
abroad,  and  even  now  you,  our  unruly  people,  are 
plotting  to  gain  possession  of  it  and  thereby  over- 
throw our  power.  This  accomplished,  you  mean 
then  to  destroy  the  largest  portion  of  our  planetary 
neighbors,  and  making  slaves  of  the  rest,  appropri- 
ate to  yourselves  all  their  possessions. 

In  our  sacred  annals  and  by  long  tradition  it  has 
been  foretold  that  such  an  inevitable  crisis  must 
surely  come,  upon  us,  but  that  in  the  hour  of 

Greatest  peril  a  sublunar  messenger,  sent  direct  by 
rovidence,  would  avert  a  crime,  the  commission 
of  which  would  forever  doom  us  to  eternal  damna- 
tion. The  prophecy  is  now  fulfilled  !  In  the  very 
hour  of  our  greatest  need,  when  the  combat  for  our 
overthrow  is  upon  us,  the  divine  ambassador  of  the 
Lord  hath  arrived ! 

We  therefore,  by  the  power  vested  in  us,  as  your 
King  and  Queen,  command  that  all  our  subjects, 
inclusive  of  our  chiefs  and  counselors,  shall  forth- 
with appear  before  the  great  Prophet  in  the  public 


LUNAR   INTAGLIOS.  15 

square  before  our  palace,  with  such  evidence,  testi- 
mony and  annals  as  shall  enable  him  fairly  and 
impartially  to  pronounce  judgment.  So  that  his 
will,  as  the  will  of  the  All-Father,  be  done ! 

Signed,   sealed   and  promulgated   in    this    first 
period  of  the  heavenly  messenger's  arrival. 

MELECH  HALVANAH, 
MALEAH  L'VANAH. 


INTAGLIO  THE  THIED. 


In  obedience  to  and  conformity  with  your  royal 
mandate  and  proclamation,  O  gracious  Melech  and 
Malkah,  and  for  the  people  and  counselors  of  state 
here  assembled,  and  with  delight  and  satisfaction, 
no  less  than  great  apprehension,  I,  the  Prime 
Minister  of  State,  appear  before  thee,  divine  mes- 
senger of  the  Lord,  in  my  own  behalf  as  well  as 
that  of  my  associates  and  fellow-officers.  I  hope 
and  pray  that  thy  auspicious  presence  among  us 
may  be  the  signal  for  allaying  the  fearful  disturb- 
ances now  threatening  this  realm.  May  it  restore 
to  our  good  and  benignant  rulers  and  their  turbu- 
lent subjects  the  beneficent  peace,  harmony  and 
good-will  which  have  existed  here  beyond  the 
memory  of  the  oldest  generation,  but  which  now 
are  greatly  endangered. 

I  came  to  this  sphere  from  a  dark  abode,  where 
1  had  been  consigned  to  atone  for  my  cruelty  and 
a  despotic  exercise  of  power,  in  life  on  earth,  the 
maledicted  king,  Eameses  of  Egypt,  who  enslaved 
a  free  people.  After  an  immeasurable  time  of 
purification,  by  untold  terrible  sufferings  below,  I 
rose  at  last  to  the  ameliorated  condition  vouchsafed 


16  BEN  BEOR. 

to  the  repentant  offenders  on  this  moon-sphere. 
Here  I  was  elevated  by  degrees  to  the  exalted 
office  of  Counselor  of  State.  Cheerfully  do  I  now 
come  forward  to  testify  as  to  what  I  know  authori- 
tatively  concerning  the  subject  at  issue.  Fore- 
most I  bear  witness,  that  during  the  long  period  in 
which  I  have  been  attached  to  this  court,  my 
beloved,  worshipped  sovereigns  have,  by  their  mild 
rules,  regulations  and  best  of  laws,  created  a  gov- 
ernment the  like  of  which  can  be  found  only 
among  the  angels  who  throng  around  the  throne  of 
the  Lord.  The  freest  exercise  of  liberty,  secured 
by  the  participation  of  all  classes  in  devising  and 
framing  the  codes  of  legislation,  produces  that 
happy  state  of  affairs  which  brings  about  mutual 
good-will  between  rulers  and  subjects.  Nowhere 
is  there  any  cause  for  discontent. 

All  have  the  blessed  privilege  of  living  in  frater- 
nal relations,  enjoying  universal  equality  and  free- 
dom, and  the  possible  advance  and  elevation  of  the 
individual.  In  fact,  the  reigning  powers  are  simply 
executive  chiefs.  They  share  responsibility  and 
labors  with  trusted  and  well-proven  ministers. 
The  only  right  reserved  to  them  exclusively  is  to 
declare  inoperative  any  ordinance  which  without 
mature  consideration  has  been  enacted. 

The  great  underlying  principle  of  our  govern- 
ment consists  in  steadily  advancing  all  classes  as- 
signed to  this  sphere  to  the  once  lost  favor  of  our 
Maker.  The  pardoning  power  is  vested  as  a  pre- 
rogative in  the  throne.  It  happens  seldom,  and 
in  only  isolated  cases,  that  a  turbulent  spirit,  under 
rash  impulses,  becomes  refractory  and  liable  to 
legal  penalties.  The  high  privileges  of  their 
majesties  may  then  forgive  freely  and  generously, 
restoring  the  erring  to  their  former  condition,  if 
the  offender  truly  repents  and  petitions  for  pardon. 


LUNAR  INTAGLIOS.  17 


We  have  three  classes  of  inhabitants. 
the  Newcomers,  arriving,  no  one  knows  whence, 
regularly  and  steadily  increasing  the  sum-total  of 
our  population.  Emerging  in  a  low  state  of  re- 
habilitation of  grace,  they  are  assigned  to  such 
public  works  as  are  in  progress  of  construction  at 
their  arrival.  Males  and  females  are  employed  in 
accordance  with  their  capacities  and  inclinations. 

They  receive  from  the  general  store-houses, 
everything  necessary  for  subsistence  and  comfort. 
At  no  time  are  they  required  to  labor  to  over-exer- 
tion. The  greater  portion  of  their  existence  is 
spent  under  carefully  selected  tutors,  who  watch 
over  their  mental  improvement.  No  inconsider- 
able attention  is  paid  to  innocent  and  exhilarating 
amusements.  They  choose  their-  own  officers  and 
chiefs,  who  maintain  order,  regularity  and  industry 
among  the  ranks,  keep  the  records  of  individuals 
as  to  behavior,  progress,  and  increased  spiritual  ad- 
vance, and  represent  this  class  also  in  the  differ- 
ent councils  of  our  nation.  At  the  end  of  stated 
epochs,  those  who  by  faithful  discharge  of  duty 
and  general  good  conduct  have  reached  the  point 
of  promotion  are,  amidst  great  festivities  and  joy- 
ous jubilations,  advanced  to  the  Second  Class. 
This  consists  of  subjects  who,  after  long  and  careful 
training,  by  which  they  have  attained  skill,  taste 
and  refinement,  are  permitted,  according  to  talents 
and  natural  gifts,  to  participate  in  the  designing 
and  execution  of  the  higher  works  of  art,  or  in  the 
study  and  advancement  of  the  sciences  and  all 
branches  of  learning.  Before  one  can  advance  to 
this  department  he  must  evince  and  prove  the  ut- 
most exactitude  for  any  work,  the  finest  sensibili- 
ties in  deportment,  and  the  very  highest  ambition 
to  excel.  Sluggards,  drones  and  shirks,  after  cau- 
tion and  reprimands,  are  consigned  again  to  their 


18  BEN  BEOR. 

former  grade.  In  this  second  class  the  work  is 
regularly  alternated  with  intelligent  amusement, 
consisting  of  musical  and  dramatic  feasts,  together 
with  games  which  tax  the  ingenuity  of  the  mind. 
This  department  also  selects  from  its  best  and 
most  favored  members  such  officers  as  are  required 
to  preserve  discipline,  order  and  decorum,  and  for 
representation  in  the  national  councils. 

A  great  but  honest  and  good-natured  rivalry  ex- 
ists among  the  aspirants  for  such  places.  It  is  an 
absolute  condition  to  have  held  some  such  post  of 
honor  before  any  member  has  a  claim  for  being 
elevated  into  the  Third  Class.  Advancement  to 
this  order  occurs  only  at  remote  periods,  requiring 
special  proclamation  from  the  reigning  sovereigns. 
Trying  ordeals  and  the  approval  of  every  member 
already  inscribed  on  the  rolls  here  are  the  condi- 
tions for  admission.  Purity,  unselfishness,  justice 
and  righteousness,  as  indispensable  qualifications 
for  every  member  in  this  exalted  sphere,  preclude 
the  exercise  of  prejudice  or  wrong  towards  those 
whom  they  are  as  anxious  to  welcome  as  the  ap- 
plicants are  to  be  admitted.  This  circle  of  the 
elect  occupies  itself  mainly  with  devising  and  over- 
seeing the  educational,  social,  moral  and  devotional 
institutes  and  the  general  welfare  of  the  whole 
community.  Every  one  here  must  contribute 
works  of  knowledge,  wisdom  and  truth  on  the 
loftiest  plans  of  piety  and  moral  goodness.  They 
select  from  their  number  several  dignitary  officers: 
First,  a  Counselor  of  State,  who  holds  the  highest 
rank  in  all  public  deliberations  and  presides  over 
the  regular  meetings  of  the  representative  common 
legislature.  "Why  thy  humble  servant  ever  was 
chosen  to  this  honor,  I  cannot  account  for.  Over- 
ruling Providence  at  last  must  have  accepted  my 
remorse  and  repentance,  and  granted  forgiveness  to 


LUNAR   INTAGLIOS.  19 

this  extent  to  one  who  had  spent  a  mortal  life  in 
error,  cruelty  and  crime.  Next,  co-ordinate  with 
my  lofty  office,  are  these  thy  servants  who  stand 
here  by  my  side :  the  High  Priest  of  morals  and 
religion  ;  the  great  Purveyor  of  common  comforts ; 
the  Administrator  of  law  and  justice;  the  Head 
Warden  of  public  property,  and  the  Captain-Gen- 
eral of  the  regal  guards ;  each  one  with  distinct 
and  precisely  defined  duties  and  obligations.  My 
report  would  be  totally  incomplete  were  I  not 
fully  to  explain  the  glorious  tasks  and  fate  which 
thus  far  have  always  awaited  those  of  our  number 
who  are  chosen  as  our  sovereigns.  His  Majesty 
"  the  Melech  "  is  always  selected  by  a  necessary 
unanimous  vote  from  the  ranks  of  the  high  coun- 
cil, and  this  choice  must  be  approved  by  all  the 
classes.  When  so  confirmed,  his  consort,  if  he  have 
one — if  not,  he  must  select  and  take  one — by  right 
of  her  conjugal  alliance,  shares  with  him  all  the 
duties  and  honors  of  the  throne,  and  becomes 
thereby  "  the  Malkah."  As  soon  as  they  are 
crowned — which  is  done  amidst  the  prayers  and 
jubilees  of  the  whole  nation,  attended  by  long 
feasts  of  rejoicing — they  devote  themselves  thence- 
forth to  the  most  scrupulous,  faithful  and  zealous 
discharge  of  their  regal  duties  and  prerogatives. 
At  last,  in  due  course  of  time,  arrives  the  final 
mysterious  translation  of  these  rnonarchs,  and  with 
them  such  officers  and  members  from  the  third 
class  who  are  deemed  worthy,  to  the  blissful  realm 
of  the  purified,  re-accepted  host  of  salvation — 
whether  to  some  other  celestial  sphere  for  higher 
and  final  approbation,  or  direct  to  the  throne  of  the 
Redeemed,  we  are  not  permitted  to  know.  As  the 
period  of  this  august  event  approaches,  unwonted 
heavenly  signs  appear.  The  constellations  of  the 
stars  shine  brighter;  the  earth  glows  more  brilli- 


20  BEN  BEOR. 

antly,  and  the  corona  of  the  sun,  where  that 
mighty  world  moves,  increases  in  caloric  and  lumi- 
nous force.  With,  tears  and  wailing  begins  the 
leave-taking.  Those  so  beloved,  so  endeared,  so 
cherished  and  revered  by  their  fellow-dwellers  on 
this  orb  will  soon  be  gone.  Yet  it  is  the  climax, 
end  and  object  of  our  temporary  residence  here,  and 
this  consideration  reconciles  us  to  the  sad  farewell 
with  our  friends.  Soon  the  heavenly  spheres  sencl 
forth  strains  of  triumphal  music;  showers  of  light 
and  fire  blaze  forth  suddenly.  Then  impenetrable 
darkness;  and  when  this  is  gradually  lifted,  the 
selected  are  with  us  no  longer.  Forthwith  their 
successors  are  chosen,  the  sovereigns  crowned,  and 
the  new  officers  installed  to  their  places  of  duty. 
Mourning  and  weeping  are  changed  into  a  season 
of  rejoicing  and  jubilees,  and  everything  soon  pro- 
ceeds in  its  usual  course. 

Authorized  by  these  my  beloved  coadjutors,  I 
will,  on  the  basis  of  the  information  thus  far  con- 
veyed by  my  testimony,  add  such  further  evidence 
in  our  cause  as  may  be  deemed  necessary  for  thee, 
great  prophet,  to  fully  understand  and  adjudge 
the  great  disturbance  by  which  our  realm  has 
lately  been  thrown  into  confusion,  imminent  dan- 
ger, and  apprehended  destruction.  To  this  will 
finally  be  added  a  full  statement  by  my  fondly 
loved  sister,  our  adored  Malkah.  She  is  in  ex- 
clusive charge  of  the  most  important  department 
of  u  Supervision  of  Domestic  Life."  In  her  posses- 
sion is  information  which  will  throw  full  light  on 
the  perplexing  affairs  now  dominant  among  us. 
Thou  wilt  next  deign  to  have  brought  before  thee 
the  wondrous  prisoner  of  state,  the  cunning  de- 
signer of  the  fatal  magnifying  lenses  and  crafty 
inventor  of  the  infernal  explosive,  by  means  and 
power  of  which  he  has  become  the  origin  and 
cause  of  all  our  troubles. 


LUNAR   INTAGLIOS.  21 

Lend  thine  ear  then  patiently  to  the  recitals  in 
behalf  of  my  compeers,  who  have  entreated  me  to 
make  for  them  the  following  reports  and  give 
special  information  concerning  the  sad  changes 
in  our  former  condition.  O,  benign  ambassador 
of  the  Lord!  behold  to  what  our  recent  placidity 
of  governmental  affairs  has  been  brought,  since 
that  accursed  mechanician  has  arrived  among  us. 

Successfully  arousing  the  discontent  of  our 
people,  he  lias  made  great  numbers  mutinous  by 
ridiculing  their  submissive  obedience  to  the  estab- 
lished order  of  our  laws.  Watching  from  the  ob- 
servatory, lie  would  explain  to  his  followers  what 
he  saw  going  on  among  the  race  of  humanity,  upon 
yonder  terrestrial  globe.  It  is  certainly  astonish- 
ing how  the  instrument  placed  in  the  tower  will 
bring  to  view,  in  clearest  detail,  even  small  objects 
millions  of  miles  away.  This  is  unquestionably 
due  to  the  peculiar  properties  of  a  brilliant  quartz 
abundantly  found  in  our  mountains.  By  an  easy 
manipulation,  these  pebbles  are  readily  ground  into 
disks  and  finely  polished.  Through  this  process 
they  attain  enormous  sight-power,  which  this 
person  has  greatly  increased  by  arranging  several 
of  such  glasses  in  an  immense  longitudinal  tube. 
If  it  be  thy  pleasure,  at  the  conclusion  of  hearing 
our  testimony,  thou  may'st  convince  thyself  of  all 
with  thine  own  eyes.  From  this  source  the  villain 
tells  his  eager  listeners  of  battles  raging  on  earth 
between  different  sections.  Riders  on  strange 
quadrupeds,  he  tells  them,  fly  from  place  to  place. 
Chariots  resembling  the  one  in  which  thou  hast 
made  thy  appearance  among  us,  are  driven  in  end- 
less numbers  hither  and  thither.  Hosts  of  people, 
armed  with  fearful-looking  weapons,  march  against 
one  another.  Cities,  towns  and  hamlets  go  up  in 
fire.  Now  one  is  declared  victorious,  and  then  the 
other. 


22  BEN  BEOK. 

The  conquerors  carry  those  not  slain,  loaded  in 
chains  after  them,  possessing  themselves  of  their 
females,  whom  they  make  their  wives  or   concu- 
bines.    They  despoil  the  countries  so  conquered  of 
everything  valuable,  and  take  the  lands.     I  myself 
have  looked  through  that  tube  and  observed  this 
to  be  the  fact.     Even    thou,  in  thy  supernatural 
character,  wilt  find  it  difficult  to  realize  the  over- 
whelming extent  of  the  havoc  and  butchery  which 
thou    shalt    behold    when     making    observations 
through  that  instrument.     By  hearing  continued 
recitals  of  such  wild  events,  our  people  are  aroused 
to  passions  beyond  control.     The  triumph  of  glitter 
and   glory ;    the   wallowing  in  sensual  pleasures ; 
the    heaping  up  of  treasures   and    possessions  of 
riches  by  one  party  at  the  expense  of  another;  the 
deeds  of  crime  and  sanguinary  vengeance  perpe- 
trated, and  enjoyed  with  ghoulish  glee;   the  feast- 
ing and  revelry  in  the  gorgeous  halls,  attended  by 
mad  music  and  lascivious  dances ;   the  frailty  and 
debauchery  of  women  and  the  unscrupulousness 
and  folly  of  men — such  are  the  pictures  continually 
portrayed  before  the  eyes  of  our  lunar  inhabitants. 
Then  he  has  fired  their  imaginations  by  holding 
out  a  possibility,  through  his  scientific  inventions, 
of  leaving  our  present  abode  on  the  moon  and  tak- 
ing forcible  possession  of  the  earth,  with  all  its 
wealth  and  pleasures.    "  Too  long,'7  he  exclaimed 
to   the  deluded   shadow-creatures,  "has  this  orb, 
like  unto   a   wind-blown    cloud,   followed    obedi- 
ently her  planetary  sister.     We  will  teach,  with 
fearful  lessons,  our  arrogant  lord  and  master  that 
the  time  has  come  for  us  to  command  and  others 
to  obey."     Thus  envy,  jealousy  and  savage  anger 
are  raised  to  fever-heat.     Numbers  from  all  classes 
have  been  enticed  away  from  us.     They  no  longer 
content  themselves  with  the  quiet  life  to  which 


LUNAR   INTAGLIOS.  23 

they  heretofore  have  been  accustomed.  Labor  is 
abandoned.  Various  excuses  for  quitting  work  are 
put  forth.  Hours  are  too  long — reward  is  too  small 
— conditions  are  too  hard.  All  crave  to  be  masters 
— none  will  serve.  Fanatical  dreamers  stir  up 
those  who  were  heretofore  docile.  Such,  who 
formerly  took  pride  in  their  handiwork,  now  rave 
against  hated  situations.  Educational  efforts  are 
laughed  at  as  effeminating.  Teachers,  no  less  infat- 
uated by  folly  and  false  principles  than  their 
pupils,  invent  and  propagate  theories  by  which  the 
whole  structure  of  our  society  ultimately  must  be 
ruined  and  shattered.  Everywhere  the  spirit  of  in- 
subordination and  revolt  becomes  visible,  and  vio- 
lent outbreaks  may  be  expected  at  any  moment. 
It  ia  impossible  at  present  to  know  whom  to  trust 
or  whom  to  suspect.  All  boundaries  of  respect, 
loyalty  and  affection  are  effaced.  Remonstrances 
with  the  masses  and  chiefs  are  in  vain.  Warnings 
that  they,  by  destroying  the  free  and  liberal  govern- 
ment under  which  we  live  and  have  so  splendidly 
prospered,  will  soon  relegate  them  to  the  fearful, 
black  abode  of  chaos,  suffering,  vassalage  and  tor- 
ments, are  not  heeded.  But  our  crowning  misfor- 
tune comes  from  certain  secret  associations  and  so- 
cieties which  have  sprung  up  among  us.  Their 
members,  by  a  most  cunning  policy,  are  pledged 
with  awful  oaths  never  to  reveal  their  objects  and 
doings.  Here,  villainous  and  shocking  plots  are 
propagated,  under  the  direction  and  guidance  of 
unprincipled,  degenerated  and  wily  officers.  Had 
these  organizations  been  directed  to  proper  and 
noble  purposes,  they  might  have  become  powerful 
agencies  for  good.  Perverted  as  they  are,  they 
have  developed  into  most  destructive  means. 

Especially  injurious  has  all  this  perversion  been 
to  our   spiritual   affairs,  in  this,  that  while  here- 


24:  BEN  BEOR. 

tofore  we  were  one  people  in  the  worship  and 
adoration  of  our  "All-Father,"  we  acknowledged 
in  Him  the  one,  great,  omnipotent  Power  who 
directs,  governs  and  loves  every  creature ;  He  who 
punishes  sin,  but  in  mercy  never  forsakes  the  sin- 
ner altogether:  in  this  simple  faith  we  had  no 
doubts,  no  controversies.  It  formed  the  only  stan- 
dard by  which  all  were  admitted;  every  action 
was  adjusted  by  this  scale ;  it  guided  us  to  purity 
of  thought,  and  raised  us  in  our  moral  conceptions 
of  truth,  with  the  inspiring  hope  of  final  redemp- 
tion ;  but  now,  all  is  in  a  condition  of  upheaval 
and  commotion  in  imitation  of  the  fierce  struggles 
which  prevail  on  earth  concerning  creeds  and 
faiths. 

They  know  of  the  splendor  of  temples,  whose 
altars  drip  with  the  blood  of  human  sacrifices, 
dedicated  to  all  kinds  of  silly  idols.  They  then 
are  told  of  Mount  Zion,  on  whose  eminence  an 
edifice  rears  its  domes  and  towers  heavenward, 
dedicated  to  the  service  of  the  One  great  Jehovah  ; 
while  His  priests  now  revel  in  debauchery,  and 
vie  with  each  other  in  efforts  for  domineering 
power. 

They  are  cunningly  made  aware  of  the  fact 
that  there  are  hosts  of  men  who  neither  believe  in 
a  God  nor  have  hopes,  faiths  or  loves,  and  yet 
pretend  to  be  happy  and  content,  by  their  maxim, 
"  Live  to-day  and  die  to-morrow."  And  while  our 
deluded  subjects  should  know  better  from  their 
former  experiences,  yet  all  these  representations 
have  so  beclouded  their  minds  and  consciences 
that  they  now  make  new  religions  and  imitate  all 
the  grotesque  and  ludicrous  performances  which 
they  know  exist  on  earth. 

In  all  of  this  we  have  a  clear  demonstration  of 
what  the  example,  teachings  and  influence  of  one 


LUNAR   INTAGLIOS.  25 

• 

bold,  bad  man  may  do.  These  so  unfortunate 
complications,  with  others  such  as  will  be  brought 
to  thy  knowledge,  have  produced  a  crazed  and 
anomalous  condition  of  our  people,  manifested  by 
the  insane  and  unaccountable  purpose  to  storm  the 
citadel  where  is  stored  the  terrible  explosive,  and 
possessing  themselves  of  the  chemicals,  liberate  the 
rebel  who  manufactured  it,  and  under  his  leader- 
ship blow  up  the  earth. 

Such  an  attempt  was  in  progress  at  the  moment 
of  thy  arrival,  at  the  instant  of  our  great  need. 

May  the  will  of  God  be  done !     Selah. 


INTAGLIO  THE  FOUKTH. 

MALKAH  LEVANAH. 

Section  I. — Her  Mortal  Youth. 

I,  Malkah  Levanah,  on  whose  brow  sleeps  im- 
perial honor,  stand  now  before  Messiah's  mystic 
messenger  with  lips  unsealed  by  the  hand  of  con- 
fession. Obedient  to  the  mandate  which  says  to 
my  spirit :  "  Roll  back  the  ages  of  silence,  unwind 
the  shrouds  of  centuries,  exhume  a  dead  life  from 
the  embrace  of  time,"  I  unloose  my  thoughts  like 
white-winged  doves  over  the  wild  waters  of  memory. 

The  tree  of  eternity  lias  borne  the  blossoms  of 
repeated  centuries  since  the  beginning  and  end  of 
my  earthly  existence,  when  the  spirit  which  now 
reigns  "  Queen  of  the  Moon "  wore  that  wan, 
throbbing  mantle  of  flesh,  endowed  with  so  se- 
ductive a  fairness  that  it  won  for  its  hapless  posses- 
sor wild  worship,  wedded  to  wilder  woe.  Now,  after 
the  lapse  of  long  ages,  as  I  recall  the  dew-gemmed 
hours  of  my  youth  on  earth,  strange,  sweet  emo- 
tions bud  into  my  consciousness  like  flowers  spring- 


26  BEN  BEOR. 

% 

ing  up  on  a  grave ;  and  as  with  faltering  grasp  I 
unwrap  the  winding-sheets  of  long  eras  of  silence, 
endless  recollections  assail  me,  as  the  pungent  odors 
from  the  yellow  linen  of  a  mummy. 

While  on  earth  I  was  no  stranger  to  thy  people, 
O  august  ambassador  of  the  Lord !  and  believe 
that  even  now  the  chosen  descendants  of  Father 
Abraham  hold  me  in  grateful  and  loving  remem- 
brance as  the  only  daughter  of  the  great  Pharaoh. 
"  Merris,"  the  dove-eyed,  the  brilliant,  the  beauti- 
ful, was  the  pride  of  the  palace,  the  pet  of  the 
people.  When  as  a  little  child  I  played  in  the 
royal  gardens  with  my  beloved  brother  Rameses, 
obsequious  servants  followed  every  footstep,  antici- 
pating my  slightest  wish.  Did  my  glance,  travers- 
ing the  path  of  the  gorgeous  butterfly,  rest  for  one 
instant  on  a  flower,  its  bloom  lay  instantly  in  my 
hand ;  if,  charmed  for  the  moment  by  the  sweet 
chorus  of  the  singing  birds,  I  turned  a  listening  ear, 
the  cages  were  opened  for  my  childish  fingers  to 
fondle  the  tame  singers.  I  smiled  on  a  fruit  and  in 
a  twinkling  it  lay  before  me,  mirrored  on  a  plate  of 
crystal  or  gold.  In  a  word,  I,  the  king's  proud 
daughter,  was  surfeited  with  admiration,  attention 
and  love.  Surrounded  by  every  gorgeous  element 
which  could  assist  in  developing  an  innate  love  for 
all  that  was  beautiful  and  sublime,  my  childhood 
passed,  and  the  dawn  of  womanhood  found  me 
proud,  ambitious,  hopeful,  impassioned,  and  brim- 
ming over  with  all  the  exalted  emotions  of  fervid 
youth.  Steeped  in  music,  poetry  and  art,  yet  with 
insatiate  thirst  I  sought  to  drink  from  every  fount 
of  knowledge ;  bent  eagerly  over  the  papyri,  all 
musty  with  yellowed  hieroglyphics  of  ancient 
seers;  watched  with  flashing  eyes  the  wheeling 
stars  in  their  strange  courses,  striving  to  wrest 
from  those  far-off  lips  their  secrets,  and  passionately 


LUNAR   INTAGLIOS.  27 

yearned  with  an  envious  heart  for  the  burning  gift 
of  prophecy. 

As  the  king's  petted  daughter  I  queened  it  in 
the  grand  imperial  palaces,  my  royal  influences  oft 
swaying  the  throne  itself,  and  my  universal  eru- 
dition even  gaining  rne  admittance  to  the  secret 
councils,  when  wise  men  of  the  nations  met  in 
veiled  conclave  at  the  bidding  of  my  Pharaonic 
sire.  Poets  penned  my  praise,  the  magi  hung  over 
my  haughty  head,  predicting  certain  glories  of 
coming  honors,  and  princes  Sowed  at  my  shrine, 
devoted  slaves,  eager  to  win  the  marriage-ring. 
But  with  joyous  pulses  yet  unquickened  by  the 
glowing  influences  of  love,  I  proudly  withdrew  from 
every  aspirant  and  reveled  in  the  wild  sweetness 
of  my  maiden  liberty.  Ah!  that  fateful  moment 
— the  richest  and  most  eventful  in  a  woman's  life 
— had  not  yet  arrived,  when  the  angel  of  passion 
would  descend  to  trouble  the  pure  waters  of  my 
tranquil  spirit. 

Section  II. — Finding  of  Moses. 

One  balmy  morning,  when  the  whole  exquisite 
land  lay  palpitating  beneath  the  sun's  hot  kisses, 
surrounded  by  my  maidens  of  honor — a  crown- 
diamond  encircled  by  sparkling  jewels — 1  sought, 
as  is  the  custom  of  Egypt's  women,  the  limpid 
waves  of  the  holy  Nile  for  my  matin  ablutions. 
Poised  on  the  velvet  bank,  one  foot  teasing  the 
rippling  waters  and  blushing  to  view  my  nude  re- 
flection broken  in  the  pure  mirror  of  the  stream  at 
a  spot  where  rushes,  gigantic  lotus,  leaves  and 
blooms  hid  me  from  intrusive  eyes  like  a  lace- 
webbed  mantle — hark !  a  musical  note  smites  my 
ear — a  gurgle,  a  coo,  the  sweet  soft  sounds  of  baby 
laughter,  and  in  one  moment  more  a  vision  drifted 


28  BEN   BEOR. 

on  my  gaze  which  filled  me  with  womanly  rapture, 
apprehension  and  tremor.  Cradled  amidst  the 
emerald  papyrus- stalks  and  pillowed  on  softest 
mosses,  lay  in  a  well- woven  casket  of  impervious 
matting  a  tiny  infant,  of  beauty  so  marvelous  that 
its  pure  soul  seemed  to  permeate  its  faultless  form 
like  a  reflex  of  light  shining  through  a  rose-colored 
shell.  One  of  my  maids  was  at  once  beckoned  to 
my  aid ;  she  quickly  waded  to  the  spot  where  the 
little  waif  was  rocked  by  the  waters  and  brought 
the  infant  to  me.  In  a  burst  of  delight  I  lifted  the 
lovely  babe  to  my  bosom  and  pressed  my  lips  again 
and  again  to  its  coral-tinted,  smiling  mouth.  "  It 
is  mine ! "  I  cried  ;  "  a  gift  not  only  from  the  exalted 
river,  but  from  death  itself.  This  little  life  which 
Isis  has  granted  me  the  happy  chance  to  save,  shall 
henceforth  be  my  care.  Be  his  name  called  most 
fittingly  i  the  gift  of  the  waters ' — '  Osarsiph '  in 
our  native  Egyptian  tongue,  '  Moses'  in  the  Chal- 
dee  language." 

It  is  useless  to  tell  thee  this  well-known  history  of 
thy  Hebrew  people,  were  it  not  that  sequels  bear- 
ing directly  upon  my  earth-life  became  connected 
therewith  which  never  have  been  revealed  to  the 
outside  world,  being  kept  undisclosed  in  the  sacred 
archives  of  our  priests.  In  vain  my  prudent  at- 
tendants endeavored  to  check  my  transport  by  re- 
minding me  of  my  father's  late  decree.  By  this 
the  unfortunate  descendants  of  the  Hebrew  Patri- 
arch Jacob  were  doomed,  as  the  feared  and  shunned 
slaves  of  our  nation  ;  to  which  had  been  added  that 
every  new-born  male  child  should  be  killed  by  the 
hands  of  its  own  mother.  No  doubt  this  darling 
foundling  was  one  of  these  Hebrew  children,  placed 
in  the  bulrushes  by  maternal  love,  stronger  than 
kings  and  princes,  with  the  hope  that  her  beautiful 
offspring  might  be  rescued  by  some  providential 
power. 


LUNAR   INTAGLIOS.  29 

"  Nevertheless  shall  I  keep  him !  "  I  reiterated, 
sealing  the  vow  with  many  lingering  kisses ;  and 
as  his  little  dimpled  hands  fluttered  on  my  breast, 
the  heart  beneath  throbbed  strong  and  warm  with 
the  firm  impulses  for  his  preservation  and  defense. 
Not  until  long  afterwards  did  I  know  that  the  joy- 
ous eyes  which  watched  me  through  the  thickets 
and  the  burst  of  thanksgiving  that  arose  to  the 
common  Father  of  all  belonged  to  "  Miriam,"  an 
elder  sister  of  my  adopted  son,  who  had  placed  her- 
self there  in  agonized  watchfulness  to  see  what 
would  become  of  her  loved  little  brother. 

Approaching,  she  asked :  "  Shall  I  bring  thee  a 
nurse  for  the  little  one?"  I  quickly  consented, 
and  she  presently  returned  with  a  finely-developed 
matron,  into  whose  care  I  gave  the  infant.  As 
I  laid  the  babe  in  her  trembling  arms  and  he 
cradled  his  sweet  head  on  her  bosom,  the  secret  re- 
vealed itself  to  me.  The  woman,  who  gave  her 
name  as  "  Jochebet,"  was  declared,  louder  than 
thunder-tones  could  proclaim  it,  saluted  by  those 
dimpling,  speechless,  milky  lips,  the  mother  of  that 
baby  boy.  Preserved  from  the  savage  mercilessness 
of  man  and  the  unconscious  cruelty  of  the  waters, 
the  young  Moses  was  restored  to  the  cradle  which 
nature  had  ordained  for  him,  the  tender  keeping  of 
his  own  maternal  parent.  When  after  a  year  the 
little  treasure,  plump,  healthy  and  of  wonderful 
growth,  was  returned  to  me  at  the  palace,  the  king, 
with  a  brief  reproof  softened  by  a  doting,  paternal 
smile,  excused  my  temerity,  and  the  gift  of  the 
sacred  Nile  was  left  to  thrive  under  my  guarding 
eyes  at  the  imperial  court. 

Section  III. — B alack  and  Balaam. 

Chief  among  the  many  passions  which  by  turns 
swayed  my  mind  and  filled  my  youthful  hours  of 


30  BEN   BEOR. 

leisure  was  the  graceful  art  of  sculpture,  for  which 
the  Egyptians  were  already  justly  famous.  With 
the  warm  enthusiasm  which  distinguishes  the  pur- 
suits of  the  young,  I  spent  hours  over  my  art 
attempts,  guided  and  directed  by  the  most  able 
and  accomplished  masters.  Just  at  this  time,  when 
niy  interest  in  art  was  most  warmly  aroused,  the 
royal  prince  "Balack,"  who  was  also  a  young 
sculptor,  came  to  my  father's  palace  from  the  dis- 
tant land  of  Moab.  He  was  accompanied  by 
"Balaam  ben  Beor,"  one  older  than  himself,  en- 
dowed with  great  wisdom,  learning  and  skill  in 
the  sciences  which  made  him  the  superior  of  all  the 
priests  and  magi  of  our  land.  Both  brought  such 
credentials  which  opened  for  them  the  golden  portals 
of  highest  honors.  The  strangers  were  received 
with  distinctions  accorded  to  princely  visitors. 

Attracted  by  mutual  tastes,  small  marvel  that 
the  youthful  Balack,  always  accompanied  by  his 
ambassador,  the  ever-watchful  Balaam,  soon  learned 
to  linger  in  the  lofty  studio  of  the  young  princess, 
who  with  all  her  pride  speedily  enrolled  herself  as 
his  pupil.  Still  does  his  image  flash  out  from  the 
ashes  of  time,  like  a  spark  of  immortal  fire  which 
death  itself  cannot  quench.  Still  can  I  recall  him 
as  I  first  saw  him,  glowing  with  the  strength  of 
early  manhood  and  crowned  with  the  bloom  of 
youth.  Majesty  dwelt  in  his  gestures,  eternal 
promise  thrilled  in  hi.s  glance,  and  genius  was  en- 
throned upon  his  brow.  In  the  crucible  of  his 
daily  companionship,  by  that  mysterious  alchemy 
which  must  surely  continue  to  exist  even  in  the 
vast  laboratory  of  the  "  forever,"  each  dull  and 
leaden  minute  was  transmuted  into  gold,  and  the 
hours  furnished  precious  links  of  inexpressible 
brilliancy  to  bind  our  souls  together.  The  realiza- 
tion which  this  long  trance  of  communion  por- 


LUNAR  INTAGLIOS.  31 

tended  to  my  heart  did  not  at  once  burst  upon  my 
inexperienced  consciousness.  Learned  in  the  mys- 
tic signs  of  the  zodiac,  I  could  trace  the  sparkling 
pathway  of  stars  and  understand  the  meaning 
of  their  wanderings,  but  the  strange  and  weird 
signs  of  the  passion  of  passions,  though  traced  in 
the  horoscope  of  my  own  soul,  were  beautiful  but 
bewildering  figures  which  my  dazzled  visions  failed 
to  interpret.  Picture  a  violet  sky  wrapped  in  the 
palpitating  darkness  of  the  night.  On  the  ame- 
thystine rim  of  the  horizon  lies  in  hiding  the  mys- 
terious principle  of  light,  destined  to  dissipate  the 
sleeping  shadows  from  the  sky's  soft  bosom  and 
thrill  it  with  the  burning  rapture  of  dawn.  A 
delicate  pearly  color  steals  timidly  in  the  far-away 
east.  A  roseate  radiance  lays  hesitating  hands  on 
the  sombre  garments  of  night.  Softly  and  gradu- 
ally the  sable  veil  melts  away  and  the  snowy 
corona  of  dawn  is  revealed.  The  light  trembles 
and  flashes.  A  slowr  illumination  of  crimson  and 
gold  shines  through  her  half-awakened  eyelids. 
Opaline  glimmers  of  milk  and  flame  tremble 
through  her  lifting  lashes.  Gradually  does  the 
rose-flush  deepen  on  her  blushing  cheeks,  does  she 
open  wide  her  violet  eyes;  then,  shivering  beneath 
the  ecstatic  kiss  of  light,  she  throws  herself  into 
the  passionate  arms  of  morn. 

Is  this  a  faint  image  of  the  rise  and  growth  of 
divine  love  enkindled  in  my  soul  ?  I  have  said  it ! 

Wrapped  in  the  indecipherable  mantle  of  the 
unknown  did  my  beloved  come  to  me,  and  in 
secret  did  we  kneel  at  the  passion-draped  altar  of 
devotion  and  drink  the  sacred  cup  of  earth's 
sweetest  but  most  dangerous  potion. 

It  was  not  long  ere  the  most  auspicious  moment 
in  my  maiden  life  approached.  One  balmy  morning 
Balack  and  myself  were  engaged  in  finishing  an 


32  BEN  BEOK. 

ideal  group  of  alabaster,  which  we  had  planned 
and  executed  together.  Balaam  had  been  sum- 
moned to  an  audience  with  the  king,  and  for  the 
first  time  we  found  ourselves  alone.  While  en- 
gaged in  this  artistic  employment,  our  hands  and 
then  our  eyes  met,  and  I  felt  as  if  a  spark  of  light- 
ning had  suddenly  shot  to  the  centre  of  my  heart. 
Then  he  knelt  at  my  feet,  and  with  the  most  im- 
passioned words  avowed  that  he  loved  me — that  I 
must  be  his  own — pleading,  as  if  for  life,  but  for 
one  word  of  approval,  of  reciprocation  of  his  pas- 
sion. It  seemed  as  if  I  had  lost  the  power  of 
speech  and  motion.  Seeing  me  thus,  he  sprang  to 
his  feet,  pressed  me  in  his  arms  and  imprinted  upon 
my  unresisting  lips,  which  never  before  had  been 
touched  by  stranger,  most  enrapturing,  never-to- 
be-forgotten  kisses.  O  happiness!  O  most  exalted 
joy  that  I  experienced  in  that  moment !  I  could 
not  but  return  the  pressure  of  his  hand  and  answer 
a  faint  "yes." 

In  this  situation  we  were  surprised  by  the  coin- 
ing of  the  old  companion  of  my  lover,  who  had 
entered  silently  and  unobserved.  The  flashing, 
angry  eyes  of  this  unwelcome  intruder  boded 
naught  but  evil.  Placing  his  arm  in  that  of  his 
master  and  urging  immediate  and  pressing  affairs 
of  state,  they  left  me.  Too  late,  alas!  I  found 
that  I  had  enkindled  a  most  unholy  passion  in  the 
breast  of  this  wicked  old  man,  who  in  his  furious 
jealousy  would  prove  henceforth  my  most  bitter 
enemy.  By  fraudulent  despatches,  which  the 
scheming  monster  no  doubt  held  in  readiness  for 
any  case  of  emergency,  he  made  my  lover's  instant 
departure  a  necessity. 

Who  can  describe  the  anguish  which  over- 
whelmed us  when  the  terrible  moment  of  parting 
arrived  ?  Then  I  had  to  learn,  and  to  realize  the 


LUNAR   INTAGLIOS.  33 

stern  lesson,  that  it  is  man's  part  to  do  and  woman's 
to  suffer.  Clasped  in  the  heaven  of  his  embrace,  I 
nevertheless  trembled  on  the  very  verge  of  despair 
by  this  sudden  separation.  To  my  lacerated  heart 
he  sought  to  apply  the  sweet  balm  of  soothing 
words  and  promises.  It  was  a  tearful,  agonizing 
moment,  with  the  only  consoling  ray  in  the  waver- 
ing darkness  of  that  hour — hope  for  an  early  and 
permanent  reunion. 

Blind  mortals  that  we  were  !  In  his  over-anxi- 
ety for  my  welfare  and  a  desire  to  keep  in  direct 
communion  with  me,  he  had,  at  the  urgent  request 
of  my  father,  consented  to  leave  Ben  Beor  behind. 
I  submitted  to  his  protection.  Enchanted  by  his 
profound  learning  and  wonderful  eloquence,  King 
Pharaoh  had  become  so  infatuated  with  the  aged 
hypocrite  as  to  overwhelm  him  with  honors,  be- 
stowing upon  him  the  noble  title  "  The  Wise  Man 
of  the  East,"  making  him  the  associate  of  Jethro, 
the  high-priest  of  Midian,  and  Job,  the  sage  from 
the  land  of  Uz.  These  three  now  constituted  the 
chief  counselors  of  the  land.  It  had  been  given 
out  by  the  intriguing,  wily  schemer,  that  on  ac- 
count of  the  long  absence  of  Balack  from  his 
realms,  a  violent  revolution  had  broken  out  in  the 
kingdom  of  Moab,  which  required  the  immediate 
attention  of  the  young  prince. 

As  a  compensation  for  retaining  Balaam,  King 
Pharaoh  furnished  his  princely  visitor  with  a  large 
retinue  of  valiant  charioteers  and  servants,  con- 
cluding on  his  departure  an  alliance  and  treaty  of 
peace  and  eternal  friendship. 

After  the  idol  of  my  heart  had  left,  the  mount- 
ing billows  of  my  life  sank  to  their  old  level,  as  the 
tides  of  despairing  sorrow  subsided.  Time,  the 
great  harvester,  went  his  tireless  way.  The 
sheaves  of  days,  weeks  and  months  were  bound  up 


34  BEN  BEOR. 

and  laid  away  in  the  eternal  granary.  A  year 
rolled  round,  but  still  no  word  of  tenderness  from 
my  absent  lover  winged  its  way  to  my  waiting 
soul. 

Section  IV.— "The  Wise  Man  of  the  East." 

At  my  age,  the  buoyancy  of  }'outh,  with  the  fer- 
vor and  zeal  attending  the  various  occupations  into 
which  I  plunged  with  greater  assiduity  than  ever, 
helped  me  to  bear  with  patience  and  fortitude  my 
heart-hunger,  and  pass  the  time  trying  to  forget  my 
troubles.  In  this  I  was  greatly  comforted  by  little 
Moses,  my  cherished  water-waif,  who  had  grown  in 
strength  and  beauty.  Words  of  childish  wisdom 
fell  like  pearls  from  his  lips,  and  even  my  kingly 
father  with  unwonted  tenderness  bent  low  his  ear 
when  the  rosy  mouth  of  the  toddler  parted.  Once 
when  the  court  was  robed  in  its  richest  for  the 
annual  assembling  of  "The  Three  Wise  Men,"  it 
happened  that  little  Moses  found  access  to  the  hall 
where  the  royal  council  was  in  progress,  and  writh 
the  innocent  freedom  of  a  privileged  favorite 
climbed  on  the  knees  of  the  king,  who  petted  and 
caressed  him.  Rising  upon  his  tiny  feet,  he  laugh- 
ingly kissed  the  sovereign  and  playfully  snatched 
the  crown  from  the  head  of  the  king.  Cooing 
with  childish  glee,  he  pressed  the  glittering  circle 
upon  his  own  ebony  curls.  Great  was  the  dismay 
at  this  babyish  prank,  and  mutterings  deep  and 
loud  rolled  through  the  assembly.  This  appropri- 
ation of  the  crown  was  construed  by  Balaam,  the 
First  Wise  Man,  as  a  prophetic  omen  of  coming 
treason  by  the  offspring  of  the  enslaved  Hebrews. 
Balaam  did  not  hesitate  to  assert  that  in  course 
of  years  this  infant  would  sting  the  bosom  which 
had  warmed  him,  and  attempt  to  dispossess  the 


LUNAR   INTAGLIOS.  35 

Pharaohs  of  their  throne.  As  a  remedy  for  this 
possible  future  emergency  he  advised  that  the  boy 
should  be  put  to  death  ;  but  before  any  irrevocable 
step  was  taken  he  requested  that  I  be  summoned 
to  the  council  and  allowed  a  hearing.  This  was 
accordingly  done.  Eobed  as  befitted  the  imperial 
daughter,  having  been  informed  of  what  had  hap- 
pened, I  stepped  into  the  chamber  of  their  deliber- 
ations. Soon  I  found  myself  pleading  with  all  the 
passionate  fervor  of  a  woman's  nature  in  behalf  of 
the  dear  innocent.  I  was  listened  to  with  pro- 
found attention,  especially  by  Balaam,  who  seemed 
to  transfix  me  with  his  flashing  eyes,  unremittingly 
riveted  upon  my  person.  Yet  my  pleading  seemed 
in  vain. 

"  Give  him  a  test !  "  cried  Balaam.  "  Place  be- 
fore him  two  of  the  holy  vessels  of  Apis.  Fill  one 
with  glittering  gold,  the  other  with  live  coals.  If 
he  snatch  at  the  fire  he  is  but  as  other  children, 
frolicsome,  inquisitive  and  guileless.  If  he  grasp 
the  gold,  construe  it  as  you  must ! "  The  vessels 
were  brought  and  placed  before  the  child,  who  was 
held  in  the  arms  of  Balaam.  With  a  little  cry  of 
surprised  pleasure  the  babe  plunged  his  dimpled 
hands  into  the  glowing  coals  and  carried  them  to 
his  mouth.  With  his  first  wild  shriek  of  pain  I 
snatched  him  to  my  heart,  liis  tongue,  lips  and 
fingers  had  been  badly  blistered.  The  test  being 
made,  Ben  Beor  smilingly  counseled  that  the  pre- 
vious sentence  be  revoked.  So  badly  burned  was 
the  boy's  mouth  that  ever  afterwards  he  was  heavy 
of  speech. 

Then  in  my  trembling  arms  I  carried  him  back 
to  my  chambers,  calling  in  the  best  healers  of 
the  realm,  and  having  him  not  only  nursed  back  to 
health,  but  also  so  guarded  and  watched  that  no 
similar  accidents  might  befall  him.  I  meanwhile 


36  BEN  BEOR. 

provided  for  the  ideal  education  of  the  child.  So 
surely  did  I  contrive  my  plans  for  this  that  they 
could  not  fail,  no  matter  what  future  mishaps 
should  come  to  his  foster-mother.  It  was  my 
highest  ambition  to  have  him  brought  up  as  a 
statesman,  a  profound  lawgiver,  a  student  in  the 
intricate  lore  and  mysteries  of  Egyptian  priest- 
craft, inclusive  of  all  the  wisdom,  knowledge,  tradi- 
tions and  religion  of  his  Hebrew  people,  the 
renown  of  which  had  often  reached  my  ears.  Es- 
pecially was  I  infatuated  with  their  religious  faith, 
which  substituted  for  an  endless  number  of  gods 
and  goddesses  in  creatures  often  repulsive  and  ob- 
noxious, the  worship  of  One  sole  Deity,  unseen  and 
unknowable,  almighty,  omniscient  and  all  merciful. 
"What  a  sublime  contrast  to  our  adoration  of  cow, 
crocodile,  ichneumon,  and  the  thousand  other  things 
declared  sacred  by  our  priests  ! 

In  order  to  accomplish  my  scheme  I  summoned 
some  of  the  foremost  of  our  "  magi "  and  "  chardu- 
mim,"  and  after  consulting  with  Amram,  the 
father  of  my  beloved  Moses,  had  several  learned 
Israelites,  renowned  for  their  knowledge  and  piety, 
constituted  a  commission  to  take  charge  of  the 
future  physical  and  mental  development  of  my 
adopted  son.  Placing  at  their  disposal  a  large 
share  of  my  individual  fortune,  inherited  from  my 
revered  mother,  I  bound  them  by  the  most  sacred 
oaths  to  be  true,  faithful  and  loyal  to  their  duties, 
and  then  surrendered  to  them,  with  tears  and  end- 
less kisses,  the  now  five-year-old  Moses. 

Well  it  was  that  I  had  made  these  timely  provi- 
sions; for,  alas!  I  was  soon  to  be  involved  in  dire 
and  unforeseen  distress.  Balaam,  by  having  been 
the  means  of  saving  my  protege,  fancying  now  to 
have  changed  thereby  my  indifference  towards  him, 
pursued  me  with  passionate  protestations  of  love 


LUNAR    INTAGLIOS.  37 

and  amatory  addresses,  at  the  same  time  threaten- 
ing that  if  I  refused  to  listen  to  the  promptings  of 
his  burning  heart  he  would  reveal  to  the  King  my 
clandestine  engagement  to  a  foreigner,  an  un- 
pardonable crime  in  the  eyes  of  all  Egyptians. 
Notwithstanding  the  awful  prospect  of  being  con- 
signed to  a  living  tomb  as  a  priestess  in  one  of  the 
temples,  I  answered  his  passion  with  indifference 
And  his  ever-increasing  advances  with  lofty  scorn. 
But  his  stubborn  and  wily  nature  disdained  the  in- 
dignity of  repulse.  One  night,  with  the  ignoble 
assistance  of  traitorous  servants,  he  with  dexterous 
cunning  abducted  me  in  such  a  manner  that  no 
traces  or  trailing  suspicions  of  his  villainous  action 
were  left  behind. 

With  one  clamorous  voice  did  the  nation  bewail 
its  lost  princess,  and  no  effort  was  spared  to  dis- 
cover what  had  become  of  her.  No  one  was  more 
assiduous  in  loud  mourning  and  in  extension  of  the 
most  lavish  sympathy,  even  to  shedding  of  copious 
tears  with  the  inconsolable  king,  than  my  unscru- 
pulous kidnapper.  In  alliance  with  some  well- 
paid  priests,  he  concocted  and  spread  the  report 
that  I  had  been  wooed  and  won  by  a  god  who  had 
found  me  fair  among  the  daughters  of  men.  By  his 
artful  manipulations  he  shortly  presented  the  per- 
emptory order  of  immediate  recall  by  his  sovereign. 
Greatly  regretted  and  highly  honored  by  splendid 
gifts,  he  was  permitted  to  depart. 

Section  V. — In  Captivity. 

After  days  and  nights  of  constant  travel,  made 
comfortable  to  me  by  every  possible  device,  and 
during  which  I  received  all  the  deference  due  to  a 
princess  from  the  well-chosen  attendants,  our  cara- 
van arrived  at  last  in  the  mountain-fastnesses  of 


38  BEN  BEOR. 

Moab.  Here,  in  apartments  scarcely  less  magnifi- 
cent than  my  own  at  home,  I  was  kept  in  gilded 
confinement.  Soon  Balaam  arrived,  and  now  be- 
gan a  constant  persecution  from  him  who  knew  me 
to  be  entirely  in  his  power.  Persuasion  and 
threats  were  incessantly  employed  to  wrench  from 
me  consent  to  become  his  wife.  Nay!  once,  when 
inflamed  by  anger  and  lust  he  dared  the  attempt  of 
violently  taking  hold  of  my  person,  I  snatched  a 
pearl  handled  dagger  from  his  belt,  and  swore  that 
I  would  bury  it  either  in  my  heart  or  his  own  if  he 
did  not  instantly  unhand  me.  From  the  glisten- 
ing of  my  eyes  and  the  convulsive  strength  with 
which  he  saw  me  bracing  myself  for  the  fatal 
blow,  he  knew  that  I  would  be  true  to  my  word. 
Never  again  was  I  subjected  by  him  to  a  like  in- 
dignity. 

My  days  and  nights  were  passed  in  tearful  la- 
mentations. But  what  had  become  of  my  lost 
lover?  On  reaching  his  kingdom  he  found  indeed 
truth  in  the  report  of  his  cunning  confidential  ad- 
viser. The  people  had  revolted  against  the  tyran- 
nical rule  of  his  father,  deposed  him  and  proclaimed 
the  son,  if  he  would  return  at  once,  successor  to 
the  throne.  Immediately  on  his  arrival  he  was 
borne  in  triumph  to  the  palace,  and  amidst  great 
rejoicing  and  popular  jubilees  crowned  and  in- 
stalled as  sovereign  of  the  realm.  Under  his  wise, 
yet  strong  rule  the  provinces  soon  quieted  down, 
the  empire  flourished,  and  everything  seemed  pros- 
perous. Balaam,  who  resided  a  considerable  dis- 
tance from  the  capital,  was  appointed  chief  minis- 
ter and  royal  adviser,  and  I,  though  kept  in  strict 
seclusion,  often  heard  from  my  attendants,  who 
soon  learned  to  love  and  pity  me,  exalted  accounts 
of  the  glory  and  renown  of  the  young  king  of  this 
realm.  The  slaves  of  my  immediate  service  were 


LUNAR   INTAGLIOS.  39 

told  that  their  charge  was  a  mad  prisoner  who  la- 
bored under  the  hallucination  that  she  was  a  stolen 
princess.  A  long  and  weary  time  passed.  I 
might  have  grown  reconciled  to  my  cruel  fate  but 
for  the  ever-repeated  visits  and  never-ceasing, 
repulsive  and  persistent  professions  of  love  by  my 
unyielding  captor.  After  a  while  the  new  ruler  of 
Moab  with  his  retinue  of  courtiers  came  often  to 
visit  Balaam,  the  favorite  of  the  realm.  On  one 
of  these  occasions  the  young  king  in  passing 
through  the  halls  of  the  castle  casually  came  near 
my  apartments.  1  heard  one  of  my  servants — no 
doubt  in  compassion  of  my  sad  fate — remark  to 
him :  "  Here  we  keep  a  beautiful  lady  detained  be- 
cause of  her  dethroned  reason."  Actuated  un- 
questionably by  curiosity,  the  royal  visitor  com- 
manded the  portals  to  be  opened.  The  key  forth- 
with turned  in  the  lock.  Mechanically  I  rose 
from  my  seat  and  lifted  my  eyes.  I  recognized 
him,  and  with  a  cry  that  re-echoed  in  the  marble 
walls  of  my  prison  I  fell  senseless  to  the  floor. 
He  too  knew  me  again.  Kneeling  before  my  pros- 
trate form,  his  efforts  to  restore  me  to  consciousness 
were  at  length  Successful.  This  then  was  Balack, 
my  adored  lover !  The  great,  the  true,  the  brave 
and  all-powerful  king!  And  I  was  and  remained 
the  choice  of  his  fervent,  burning  affection.  We 
were  indeed  supremely  happy ! 

And  Balaam?  Tangled  so  unexpectedly  in  a 
web  of  fearful  guilt  from  which  there  was  no  es- 
cape, he  confessed  all,  and  throwing  himself  on  his 
knees,  he  appealed  for  mercy  to  his  outraged  and 
deeply-injured  sovereign.  I,  yes  I,  reminded  his 
Majesty  that  it  was  the  province  of  the  mighty  to 
show  forbearance,  despite  the  fearful  crime  of  abduc- 
tion and  detention,  and  succeeded,  by  the  plenitude 
of  his  love  for  me,  in  softening  his  anger  and 


40  BEN  BEOR. 

obtaining  pardon  for  the  offender.  The  apparently 
crushed  and  repentant  criminal  cried  out,  as  if  in 
despair,  that  his  sin  sprang  from  the  uncontrollable 
excess  of  an  unfortunate  but  sincere  passion.  Ar- 
rangements were  soon  perfected  for  our  immediate 
departure. 

When  left  for  a  moment  alone,  Balaam  found 
the  opportunity  to  have  access  to  my  presence  and 
exclaim  :  "  Revenge  on  thee  and  thine  !  Revenge 
on  whatever  thou  lovest  and  cherishest !  Deep,  ex- 
quisite, unfathomable  revenge  of  a  foiled  lover  and 
a  disgraced  man  1 "  I  derisively  smiled,  and  com- 
manded him  to  leave  or  I  would  instantly  inform 
his  Majesty  of  this  new  outrage.  And  he  left,  but 
with  such  fierce  and  terrible  gesticulation  as  made 
me  tremble.  I  did  not  see  him  again  till  after 
many  years,  when,  as  the  sequel  will  show,  I  was 
to  feel  his  malignant  vengeance. 

Everything  being  ready,  we  started  on  our  return 
to  the  imperial  residence.  On  the  road  I  learned 
from  my  betrothed  that  immediately  when  he 
arrived  home,  even  amidst  the  momentous  affairs 
of  state,  he  had  despatched  trusted  messengers  to 
the  Egyptian  court.  These  returning,  reported  that 
I  had  mysteriously  gone  to  the  gods,  which  means  in 
Oriental  language  to  have  paid  the  debt  of  nature 
by  death  ;  that  my  aged  father  followed  me  to  the 
tomb,  grief-stricken  and  despairing;  and  that  the 
whole  land  was  in  a  state  of  turmoil  and  revolt, 
caused  by  the  unbearable  tyranny  of  the  new  king, 
Rameses,  my  own  brother.  An  invasion  of  foreign 
tribes  had  followed,  and  that  then  occurred  the  suc- 
cesssful  liberation  and  flight  from  Egypt  of  the 
Hebrew  slaves,  under  the  leadership  of  a  most  re- 
markable and  wonderful  hero. 

Upon  our  arrival  at  the  capital,  the  necessary 
preparations  completed,  amidst  the  greatest  mag- 


LUNAR   INTAGLIOS.  41 

nificence  and  pompous  ceremonies,  in  presence  of 
the  people  from  near  and  far,  our  nuptial  ceremo- 
nies were  performed  and  two  loving  hearts  were 
joined. 

Years  passed  in  the  utmost  marital  felicity.  But 
as  there  is  no  perfect  happiness  vouchsafed  in  the 
sub-lunar  world,  ours  was  marred  by  the  absence 
of  children  in  our  household.  We  were  growing 
old — silvery  threads  appeared  in  my  glossy  hair — 
yet  never  a  word  of  complaint  or  murmuring 
passed  the  lips  of  my  ever-faithful  husband,  though 
I  could  at  times  detect  in  him  the  sad  conscious- 
ness that  there  was  no  heir  to  his  throne.  An 
Eastern  woman  only  can  measure  the  blighting 
misfortune  of  being  barren,  children  being  con- 
sidered the  highest  blessing  of  domestic  life. 

One  day  messengers  mounted  upon  swift  steeds, 
so  celebrated  among  the  Bedouin  tribes,  brought 
the  surprising  and  unexpected  news  that  an  endless 
host  of  the  fugitive  Hebrews  in  their  invincible 
might  were  successfully  and  miraculously  crossing 
the  uninhabitable  u  Sahara  Petrese."  They  had 
reached  the  borders  of  Moab.  A  hasty  council 
consisting  of  the  bravest  and  most  skillful  and 
sturdy  Ishmaelite  chiefs  was  summoned.  They 
quickly  assembled.  After  due  deliberation  it  was 
agreed  that  our  warriors  were  no  match  for  the 
well-trained  Israelitish  hosts,  unless  some  super- 
natural intervention  could  be  called  to  our  aid  to 
help  us  fight  the  invaders.  Then  the  king  and  the 
magnates  of  the  realm  bethought  themselves  of  Ba- 
laam. It  was  resolved  that  it  became  necessary, 
before  venturing  upon  a  life-and-death  combat  with 
the  Hebrews,  to  invoke  him  to  come  and  hurl 
against  this  dreadful  host,  Heaven's  most  awful 
curses.  An  embassy  of  some  of  the  foremost 
chiefs,  loaded  with  costly  presents,  was  despatched 


42  BEN  BEOR. 

to  him  with  the  royal  invitation  to  appear  forth- 
with and  pronounce  the  potent  maledictions. 

Section  VI. — The  Blessing  and  the  Curse. 

The  old  schemer  in  his  mountain-retreat  had 
long  abided  his  chance.  Under  some  sanctimoni- 
ous pretense  he  at  first  utterly  refused  the  king's 
behest.  A  second  and  more  distinguished  party, 
with  still  more  precious  and  rich  gifts,  was  sent  to 
him.  Reserving  for  himself  the  right  "  whether  to 
bless  or  to  curse,"  he  at  last  consented  to  come, 
and  on  his  arrival  at  the  palace  was  received  with 
more  than  princely  distinction.  While  the  grand 
preparation  of  bringing  oblations  and  sacrifices  to 
our  god,  "  Baal-Peor,"  was  under  way,  it  happened 
that  he  casually  met  me  for  an  instant  alone.  "I 
shall  not  curse,  but  bless  thy  Moses !  "  he  ejaculated, 
with  the  blandest  and  most  insinuating  voice  and 
mien,  but  with  such  a  leer  that  it  made  me  invol- 
untarily shudder.  "  Moses — my  Moses !  " — how  the 
name  tugged  at  my  heart  and  brought  back  a  flood 
of  the  most  tender  and  affectionate  recollections !  So 
my  long  secretly-cherished  forebodings  at  last  were 
confirmed.  It  was  my  foster-son,  my  water-waif, 
who  had  grown  up  to  accomplish  the  liberty  of  his 
people,  and  who  now  was  leading  them  past  our 
borders,  to  that  promised  land  of  which  I  had 
heard  so  much  in  my  maidenhood,  as  contained  in 
the  Israelitish  traditions. 

Sad  decree  of  fate !  Here  was  my  own  wor- 
shipped husband  now  in  deadly  array  against  the 
hero  of  my  youth  and  his  nation.  I  dared  not 
even  breathe  a  word  in  their  favor,  the  people  of 
my  adopted  country  hating  them  so  fiercely.  And 
yet,  how  I  hungered  and  longed  to  speed  to  him, 
to  see  the  splendidly  matured  manhood,  to  press 


LUNAR    INTAGLIOS.  43 

him  if  only  once  again  to  my  breast  and,  like  a 
tender  mother,  kiss  him  on  his  godlike  brow!  I 
resolved  at  last  to  wait  patiently  and  see  whether  I 
could  not  intercede  for  him  favorably  with  my 
august  husband.  Alas!  the  sore  turn  affairs 
shortly  took ! 

Balaam,  true  to  his  secret  words,  could  not  by 
any  means  at  command  of  Moab  be  induced  to 
curse  Israel.  On  the  contrary,  at  seven  altars 
erected  by  his  request  he  pronounced  the  most  vol- 
uble and  prophetic  benedictions  over  the  wide- 
spread tents  of  Jacob,  now  erected  at  the  foot  of 
our  hills,  in  words  as  eloquent  as  ever  fell  from 
the  lips  of  heaven-inspired  poet.  They  have  been 
preserved  among  the  books  of  your  sacred  writ- 
ings. E"o  one,  the  king  and  myself  included-,  could 
understand  then  the  inexplicable  policy  of  the  old, 
immovable  seer.  Too  soon,  however,  his  terribly 
wicked  designs  were  made  manifest.  When  the 
hypocritical  jest  was  over  a  secret  conclave  met, 
during  which  my  husband  and  his  companions 
deemed  themselves  alone  and  unobserved.  I  had 
found  means  to  see  and  hear  all  that  passed.  How 
shall  I  now  find  words  to  relate  the  harrowing  ex- 
perience ! 

After  hurling  the  most  bitter  and  blasphemous 
scorn  upon  their  reliance  to  be  shielded  and  pro- 
tected by  the  shadow  of  empty  words,  either  curse 
or  blessing,  Balaam  proceeded  to  show  in  clear-cut 
phrases  what  he  had  learned  of  the  object  and  aim 
of  Moses,  his  plans  and  mission.  With  an  irresist- 
ible logic  he  demonstrated  to  his  eager  hearers 
that  the  code  of  laws  which  the  Hebrew  leader, 
like  one  inspired  from  heaven,  had  devised  for  the 
government  and  life  of  his  people,  would  ultimately 
lead  to  universal  freedom  and  happiness  of  the 
individual  man,  as  well  as  to  their  multiples,  the 


44  BEN  BEOR. 

nations  of  this  world.  But  while  by  this  gigantic 
civilizing  process  the  lower  masses  were  raised  un- 
til they  reached  such  guerdon,  the  privileged  castes 
and  classes  would  be  utterly  merged  into  the  com- 
mon lot.  This  should  not  be !  Master  and  slaves ! 
is  the  watchword  by  which  the  thrones  and  altars 
sustain  and  perpetuate  their  superiority  over  the 
herd  of  humanity.  Henceforth  it  is  Balaam 
against  Moses!  War  eternal  unto  death  between 
"  Baal-Peor  "  and  "  Jehovah  !  "  "  The  problem  is 
solved,"  he  cried,  "by  employing  in  the  service  of 
the  high,  ruling  classes  the  passionate  instincts 
which  govern  the  lower  man,  and  forthwith  we  will 
try  their  efficacy  in  this  our  struggle  with  those  Is- 
raelites. Listen  then  to  what  are  my  plans  and 
purposes:  These  Hebrews  are  stronger  and  by 
far  more  numerous  than  we;  therefore  we  must 
weaken  and  decimate  them.  There  is  but  one  way 
at  present  to  achieve  this.  By  their  hot  oriental 
nature  they  are  blindly  susceptible  to  the  blandish- 
ments and  wiles  of  the  fair  sex.  Command 
therefore,  O  king,  forthwith  that  all  our  depraved 
and  loose  women  approach  their  neighborhood  ; 
that  they  use  their  charms  and  smiles  to  en- 
snare them  in  their  meshes ;  but  let  them  be  in- 
structed never  to  grant  favor  or  kindness  to  their 
victims  except  they  first  seduce  them  to  bend  their 
knees  and  worship  our  idol  Baal-Peor  with  all  the 
rites  arid  ceremonies  which  that  service  implies !  " 
Such  a  hilarious,  approving  uproar  this  cunning 
proposition  evoked  among  his  amazed  hearers,  that 
for  some  time  the  deafening  shouts  prevented  the 
king  expressing  his  full  assent  to  the  measure,  de- 
claring that  with  the  coming  morning  his  edicts 
should  go  forth  to  set  the  plan  into  execution. 

When  the  royal  declaration  had  restored  quiet, 
Balaam  continued :  "  But  even  the  fullest  success 


LUNAR   INTAGLIOS.  45 

of  this  scheme  will  give  to  the  old  condition  of 
things  temporary  relief  only.  Were  we  able  to 
kill  every  one  of  these  accursed  Semites,  yet  the 
spirit,  this  giant  mind  of  their  leader  has  evoked,  is 
abroad,  and  the  truths  which  he  has  taught  cannot 
be  crushed.  Unless  an  antidote  be  found,  fare- 
well to  privileged  castes,  farewell  to  monarchs, 
princes  and  nobility,  and  farewell  to  priesthood ! 
Thanks  to  the  gods !  1  have  found  this  also.  Let 
rny  servants  bring  forth  the  filled  urns  of  '  the 
Spirits  of  Life,'  which  I  have  brought  with  me  to 
exhibit  the  powers  of  the  same  before  you.  Until 
they  come  [two  slaves  had  started  to  do  his  bid- 
ding] let  me  say  that  I  am  experimenting  with  an- 
other force  to  aid  us,  by  which,  whenever  I  shall 
complete  it  for  use,  the  masses  which  we  now  fear 
will  overpower  us  by  numbers,  if  it  comes  to  a  con- 
flict, we  then  will  be  able  to  destroy  whole  hosts 
of  them  as  if  by  unseen  hands.  Thus  far  the 
explosive  force  to  be  discovered  by  the  combina- 
tion of  chemicals  is  no<t  attained,  or  I  would  have 
shattered  the  armies  of  our  invaders  to  atoms;  yet 
I  am  sanguine  that  by  continued  trials  I  shall  ulti- 
mately succeed." 

Section  VII. — The  Intoxicating  Cup. 

Here  the  servants  returned,  bearing  each  upon 
his  shoulders  two  well-sealed  urns,  and  placed 
these  before  their  master.  Golden  cups  were 
brought  forth  and  filled  with  the  sparkling  fluid. 
Its  insidious  strength  had  been  made  palatable  by 
some  aromatic  flavor.  Goblet  after  goblet  was 
emptied  by  every  one  of  the  company,  and  like  a 
magic  potion  it  revealed  its  intoxicating  influence 
upon  the  unsatiated  imbibers.  As  they  grew  wildly 
excited,  Balaam  once  more  rose  to  his  feet  and 


46  BEN   BEOR. 

addressed  tire  king:  "  JVfy  sire,"  he  exclaimed,  "all 
our  work  will  be  vain  and  fruitless  unless  I  have 
thy  immediate  co-operation.  It  is  a  hard  sacrifice 
which  I  must  ask,  but  if  thon  art  not  willing  to 
make  it  we  may  as  well  at  once  surrender  to  our 
enemies.  I  have  positive  knowledge  that  the  queen 
is  in  greatest  sympathy  with  the  Hebrews.  It 
was  she  who  rescued  their  Moses,  when  an  infant, 
from  death  in  the  waters ;  it  was  through  her  influ- 
ence that  he  was  initiated  into  the  lore  and  mys- 
teries of  the  priests;  and  it  will  be  she  wrho  next 
betrays  every  movement  we  shall  make.  Thou 
either  wilt  be  privy  to  their  treason,  or  place  her  in 
such  seclusion  and  under  such  surveillance  as  to 
prevent  her  sending  aid  to  the  enemy." 

At  this  the  king  grew  violent ;  his  eyes  glared 
like  those  of  a  madman  ;  his  hands  clutched  at  the 
empty  air,  and  with  a  voice  thick  and  broken 
with  fearful  oaths  and  imprecations  he  swore  that 
no  wife  of  his  should  thus  betray  him  and  Moab  ; 
that  the  queen  be  placed  at  sunrise  in  the  tower  of 
the  castle,  and  there  remaift  under  guard,  day  and 
night,  until  all  danger  should  be  over. 

Never  before  had  I  seen  my  husband  so  fierce,  so 
wildly  aroused,  so  brutally  angered,  so  full  of  pas- 
sion and  excitement.  I  felt  sick  at  heart;  all  grew 
dark  before  my  eyes — I  fainted  and  fell  to  the  floor. 
What  happened  then  I  do  not  know.  When  I 
awoke  to  consciousness  I  found  myself  in  a  dun- 
geon-like room,  the  existence  of  which  I  never  be- 
fore had  known.  I  heard  the  heavy  tread  of  the 
guardsman,  pacing  up  and  down  before  the  door. 
In  spite  of  my  tears,  my  screams,  my  utmost  despair, 
I  was  kept  here  for  several  days  without  being  per- 
mitted to  see  a  living  person.  Food  and  water 
were  given  me  through  an  orifice  which  opened 
and  shut  as  if  by  magic.  Light,  dim  and  gloomy, 


LUNAR   INTAGLIOS.  47 

fell  from  the  high  ceiling  above.  All  needed 
comforts  were  amply  provided.  But,  oh !  how 
the  time  dragged ;  how  lonely,  how  miserably  the 
eternity  of  hours  passed;  what  fearful  thoughts 
crowded  upon  my  mind ;  how  often  did  I  clutch 
at  the  dagger  secreted  in  my  bosom,  intending  with 
a  blow  to  end  my  despair  and  existence.  Yet  at 
the  decisive  moment  courage  failed  me.  Hope 
against  hope  renewed  in  me  the  instinctive  desire 
for  life.  At  last  after  several  days — I  do  not 
know  how  many,  for  I  had  not  the  power  to  keep 
track  of  time — the  door  opened.  It  was  towards 
evening.  Then  entered  Balaam,  leading  in  Balack. 

0  heaven !     what  a  change  the  short  period  had 
wrought    upon   my   hapless   husband  !      Once   so 
beautiful,   haughty,   brave,   proud   and   manly — I 
saw  at  a  glance  that  he  was  not  even  the  shadow  of 
himself.     Reeling  and  idiotic,  he  staggered  to  my 
couch   and   fell  down  upon  it  like  an   inanimate 
log.     I   threw  myself   on  my  knees  before  him; 

1  kissed  and  caressed  him,  called  him  loudly  by 
every  endearing  expression  of  which  he  used  to  be 
so   fond ;    I  took  his  hands,  wet  them  with  my 
tears,  and  pressed  them  to  my  heart.     Alas  !    alas ! 
alas! — he   knew   me   not — he  recognized   me    no 
longer.     As  I  turned  my  face,  Balaam  with  folded 
arms  and  the  most  fiendish  look  stood  before  me. 
His  words  came  slowly  and  deliberately,  every  one 
cutting   into    my  agonized  soul.     Then   he  said : 
u  Behold  my  work  !   Behold  the  dire  vengeance  of 
a  despised  lover !     The  drink  which  I  have  brewed 
in   my    seething   caldron    has  done  its   dire   and 
appointed  work,  as  it  shall  do  it  henceforth  forever. 
Veiled  at  the  beginning  of  its  use  with  the  sweet- 
ness of  a  mild  and  undivined  influence  over  heart 
and  brain,  as  the  appetite  grows  it   punishes  the 
abuse  gradually  but  unfailingly  with  the  torments 


48  BEN  BEOR. 

of  hell.  Look  yonder,  lady,  how  it  changes  the  calm 
and  equable  intelligence  into  swinish  depravity,  ac- 
companied by  boiling  fever-dreams,  causing  the 
drunkard's  frenzy  and  madness,  terminating  ulti- 
mately in  the  most  horrible  of  all  catastrophes — con- 
vulsive death.  Thanks  to  my  genius,  these  ravages, 
now  started,  will  go  on  through  the  years  of  eter- 
nity! Thanks  to  my  thirst  to  be  revenged  on  fickle 
woman,  the  whole  sex  shall  forever  be  punished 
most  sorely  for  the  torments  of  thwarted  affection 
inflicted  upon  me  by  a  woman." 

At  this  moment  the  king  awoke  from  his  death- 
like stupor.  With  one  desperate  effort  he  sprang 
to  his  feet.  In  an  instant  he  had  hold  of  Balaam 
with  a  wild  beast's  fury.  All  his  motions  were 
spasmodic;  his  disheveled  hair  rose  on  end;  his 
eyes  protruded  far  out  of  their  sockets.  He  held 
hia  adversary  tightly  clutched  by  the  throat  and 
would  certainly  have  strangled  him,  when  all  of  a 
sudden  the  combat  ceased.  The  arms  fell  lirnp  to  his 
side.  He  staggered  back  ;  fell  to  the  floor  lifeless, 
dead — dead — a  corpse ! 

The  awful  struggle  ended,  we  both  stood  over 
the  inanimate  form,  I  in  utter  consternation  and 
bewilderment,  he  in  the  glee  of  a  ghoul  feasting  on 
the  ravages  of  murder.  Presently  he  spoke: 
"Now  all  obstacles  are  conquered.  Now  thou 
shalt  be  mine,  willing  or  not!  Thou  art  my  love, 
my  wife!  Here  I  will  clasp  thee  to  my  breast!" 
As  he  made  ready  to  spring  towards  me,  I  drew 
the  dagger  hidden  in  my  bosom.  It  glistened  in 
my  hand.  He  hesitated  for  a  moment,  then  stepped 
back.  I  bent  forward  toward  him.  How  I  may 
have  looked  in  that  instant  I  cannot  tell,  but  I  saw 
him  shudder.  Then  I  launched  a  most  fearful 
curse  on  his  head.  The  awful  words  came  to  me 
like  the  rush  of  a  cataract.  I  well  remember  the 
last: 


LUNAR  INTAGLIOS.  49 

"  Be  accursed  by  men  and  women, 

By  little  children's  cry ! 
Accursed  by  widows  and  orphans, 
Accursed  forever  and  aye  !  " 

How  he  winced  and  cringed  as  I  now  stood  over 
him !  Then,  as  if  to  strengthen  myself  for  the  fatal 
deed,  leaning  backwards,  I  plunged  the  steel  with 
one  decisive  blow  into  my  own  heart,  and  instantly 
a  gush  of  blood  streamed  right  into  his  blanched 
face.  Falling  to  the  ground,  I  lay  dying  beside  my 
husband.  Before  I  expired,  however,  I  saw  with 
my  already  failing  eyes  the  door  opening.  I  heard 
the  maddening  cry  :  "  The  foe,  the  foe !  Fly  before 
the  Hebrews !  Fly,  fly,  fly !  "  As  I  directed  a  last 
glance  towards  the  entrance,  even  with  my  ebbing 
life,  behold  !  there  stood  he — Moses !  I  knew  him 
— my  own,  my  Moses !  Around  his  head  a  sheen 
of  glory,  a  flood  of  light.  One  last,  lingering  look 
I  cast  upon  the  idol  of  my  youth.  Then  all  grew 
dark,  all  was  over. 

Section  VIII.— After  Death.— Spirit  Life. 

Thus  ended  my  earthly  career.  My  spirit-life  is 
quickly  told.  Aside  from  the  common  frailties  of 
human  nature,  prone  to  sin  and  error,  I  had  thrown 
my  mortal  life  into  the  face  of  Him  who  gave 
it ;  and  although  there  were  great  and  palliating 
excuses,  stern  justice  demanded  purification  and 
atonement.  It  commenced  with  an  incomputable 
period  of  a  blank,  from  which  I,  like  one  dazed, 
gradually  and  by  slow  advancement  returned  to 
the  consciousness  of  personal  self.  Let  me  pass 
a  veil  over  the  struggles  of  a  soul  yearning  and 
rising  upwards,  constantly  and  zealously  climbing 
by  most  minute  progress  towards  the  eternal 
height  of  perfection.  If  sin  committed  under  the 


50  BEN  BEOR. 

irresistible  force  of  fate  caused  me  the  terror-inspir- 
ing, trembling  experience,  O  merciful  Heaven  ! 
what  must  it  be  to  the  common  suicide,  who,  with- 
out even  a  justification  like  mine,  perhaps  in  a  mo- 
ment of  despondency,  seeks  exit  from  momentary 
troubles  and  rushes  in  revolt  toward  the  eternal 
doom  of  despair  ?  Was  it  not  part  of  my  chastise- 
ment to  view  constantly  beneath  me  abyss  beneath 
abyss,  seeing  there  the  withering,  writhing  forms, 
hearing  the  piercing,  despondent  cries  of  remorse 
and  penance  ?  At  last  these  grew  fainter  and 
fainter,  to  my  supreme  relief,  as  I  felt  myself  borne 
upward  higher  and  higher,  till  finally  they  ceased 
altogether. 

At  a  certain  stage  of  my  advance  from  darkness 
toward  light  I  became  conscious  of  other  shadow- 
forms,  companions  struggling  alongside  of  me  to 
regain  their  lost  goal.  The  perception  of  one 
especially  was  at  first  like  a  far,  far-oif  strain 
of  harmony — a  vibration  of  attractive  potency. 
What  intense  gratitude  then  concentrated  in  all 
my  being  at  the  thought  that  I  was  no  longer 
alone  in  efforts  to  rise  upwards;  that  perhaps  a 
kindred  soul  shared  sympathetically  the  regaining 
process  nearing  our  lost  ideal !  "  O  God  !  O 
Father  of  mercy  !  Might  it  be  possible — could  it 
be  vouchsafed  to  my  poor  quivering  spirit! — this 
to  be  him  ! — my  earth-love ! — twined  together  in  our 
hearts  below,  now  to  be  destined  here  above  as  it 
were  hand  in  hand,  once  again  to  be  united  and  to 
work  .out  together  soon,  soon,  soon,  that  part  of 
our  celestial  trial  which  ultimately  shall  bring  us 
before  the  mercy-seat  of  the  all-loving  One,  re- 
stored and  re-accepted  by  His  infinite  grace ! " 
This  feeling,  this  depthless  yearning,  grew  in  tenser 
and,  as  it  grew,  my  neighbor-soul,  no  doubt  at- 
tracted strongly  by  a  corresponding  sympathy,  came 


LUNAR    INTAGLIOS.  51 

nearer  and  nearer  and  its  presence  clearer  to  my 
jubilant  perception.  Ages  must  have  passed  in 
closing  up  the  distance  of  this  mutual  approach. 
Floating  amidst  the  immeasurable  spheres  of  an 
endless  horizon,  like  a  sailor  who  descries  land  after 
being  driven  by  adverse  storms  on  his  protracted 
voyage,  there  appeared  now  in  the  far  distance 
an  ever-growing  and  increasing  luminous  globe, 
whence  I  and,  as  I  was  surely  cognizant,  my 
companions  drifted  with  great  velocity.  Soon 
I  recognized  the  soft  blue,  pale  light  to  be  the 
adored  "  Levanah,"  the  beautiful  Moon  I  had  so 
often  gazed  at  in  wonderment  and  delight  during 
the  earth's  starry  nights  of  my  mundane  existence. 
Gradually  a  change  in  my  immediate  surround- 
ings, which  began  almost  imperceptibly,  took 
place.  From  the  misty  nothingness  in  which  I 
floated  thus  far  I  had  entered  the  mild,  soothing, 
lacteal  atmosphere  of  the  new  heavenly  orb  to 
which  I  now  approached.  Closer  I  came  to  it 
and  ever  closer,  until  at  last  my  ethereal  being 
landed  amidst  an  immense  multitude  of  shadow- 
creatures,  who  had  assembled  as  it  seemed  for  my 
reception.  But  I  came  not  alone!  With  me  in  the 
same  instant  my  mysterious  fellow-spirit  was  there 
also.  We  recognized  each  other  simultaneously 
— Balack  and  Merris — once  again  reunited  ! — Ex- 
ulting joy,  heavenly  exaltation — rescued,  saved, 
redeemed  !  It  was  nothing  like  the  carnal,  earthly 
bliss  with  which  lover  meets  the  beloved,  but  the 
rapturous,  celestial  emotion,  no  doubt  thrilling 
through  Seraph  and  Cherub  when  kneeling  at  the 
throne  of  the  Eternal,  chanting  their  "  Glorias " 
and  "Hallelujahs."  Entwined  in  each  other's 
spiritual  essence,  presently  a  voice,  as  if  coming  from 
Above,  proclaimed:  "Work  out  here  your  final 
salvation  by  goodness,  holy  unselfishness,  love  and 


52  BEN  BEOR. 

truth!  "  Happiness  of  happiness !  we  were  parted 
no  more,  but  allowed  in  the  tasks  assigned  us  here 
to  labor  contentedly  and  joyfully,  from  the  lowliest 
and  most  modest  station,  bravely,  untired ;  cheer- 
fully, in  our  purified  soul-companionship,  through 
all  the  weary  stages  of  our  probation  and  re-eleva- 
tion, until  at  last  we  have  reached  the  highest 
pinnacle  as  "Melech"  and  "Malkah,"  patiently  and 
prayerfully  devout,  awaiting  the  blessed  hour  of 
our  further  translation  to  the  sanctified  realms,  of 
which  we  as  yet  are  not  permitted  to  know  or  may 
not  realize. 

This  ends  my  evidence  and  story.  But  now 
when  near  the  fulfilment  of  our  fondest  and 
sweetest  hopes,  unexpected  and  unprecedented 
troubles  and  commotions,  caused  by  the  appear- 
ance here  of  my  sub-lunar  tormentor  Balaam  ben 
Beor,  have  arisen  and  threaten  new  and  immeasur- 
able calamities,  sorrows  and  misfortunes.  In  this 
great  emergency,  next  to  our  unbounded  trust  and 
confidence  in  our  great  heavenly  Father,  we  throw 
ourselves  upon  thy  protecting  care  and  guidance, 
O  great  messianic  ambassador !  Help  us,  heal  us, 
save  us !  So  be  it  the  will  of  our  God,  our  Rock 
and  Redeemer ! 


INTAGLIO  THE  FIFTH. 


When  the  "Malkah"  had  finished  her  beautiful 
and  pathetic  story,  we  adjourned  the  meeting  to 
the  heights  where  had  been  erected  the  observa- 
tory. The  way  thither  led  first  through  a  long 
row  of  palisades,  at  the  end  of  which  it  continued 
through  grand  avenues  of  towering  trees,  loaded 


LUNAR  INTAGLIOS.  53 

with  a  rich  golden  harvest  of  most  luscious-looking 
fruit.  The  Prophet,  the  Melech,  and  Malkah  led 
the  way.  The  crowd  followed.  Upon  reaching 
the  plateau  we  found  everything  arranged  for  our 
reception.  At  the  foot  of  the  scaffolding  on  which 
the  gigantic  eye-tube  rested  was  erected  a  platform 
for  the  accommodation  of  the  august  persons  who 
were  to  continue  the  hearing  of  the  testimony.  As 
far  as  the  eye  could  reach  the  space  was  crowded 
with  the  shadow-people,  assembled  by  the  proclama- 
tion of  the  king.  Soon  everything  was  in  readiness. 
A  host  of  military  men  appeared  with  the  prisoner 
of  state.  He  was  bound  and  shackled.  They 
dragged  him  to  this  elevated  point  on  the  mount- 
ains of  the  Moon.  As  he  now  stood  before  us  he 
began  to  speak : 

"  Forced  hither  before  thee,  all-potent  stranger,  by 
the  shadow-soldiery,  serving  under  command  of 
the  despised  Melech,  I  am  to  make  confession  of 
the  part  which  I  have  acted  in  the  present  mutin- 
ous state  on  this  Moon.  Deformed  and  crippled 
by  long  imprisonment,  yet  could  I  have  defied 
them  all,  and  with  the  strength  of  these  arms  have 
put  them  to  rout,  were  it  not  that  unaccountable 
restraints  have  paralyzed  my  strength.  These  fools 
believe  that  their  adamantine  chains  placed  upon 
my  wrists  confine  me  to  their  will.  Look!  the 
spell  has  left  me!  I  shatter  them  to  atoms  and 
stand  free  and  disenthralled  before  thee!  And  yet 
with  the  power  of  a  host,  the  overawing  glances 
of  thine  eyes  leave  me  powerless  as  a  reed  before 
the  wind.  Deign  then  to  listen  to  my  tale,  but 
know  I  ask  neither  for  sympathy,  pity  nor  for- 
giveness. In  two  worlds,  defiant,  malignant,  and 
destructive  have  I  raged.  Now  I  feel  tired  and 
worn  out  even  amidst  the  luxurious  revel  of  my 
latest  achievements.  When  thou  hast  heard  me  to 


54  BEN   BEOR. 

the  end,  grant  me  the  only  boon  which  I  yet  crave — 
entire  and  final  annihilation.  While  living  in  the 
terrestrial  world  below  I  was  one  of  the  great  magi, 
who  by  indomitable  will,  exhaustless  patience  and 
never-ceasing  thirst  for  knowledge  attained  to  the 
mysteries  of  profoundest  lore,  and  fathomed  the 
depths  of  the  occult  sciences  to  such  degree  that 
I  could  understand  the  secrets  hidden  from  most 
other  minds.  I  was  able  to  manipulate  the  secret 
laws  of  mechanics  and  chemistry.  Alas!  instead 
of  employing  the  genius  of  my  soul  in  the  service 
and  for  the  benefit  of  my  kind,  I  used  it  exclusively 
for  my  personal  aggrandizement ;  and  while  1 
might  have  become  the  blessed  benefactor  of  men, 
and  God's  instrument  for  the  advancement  of 
everything  true,  noble  and  good,  I  chose  to  pervert 
my  talents  for  the  benefit  of  accursed  and  hateful 
promulgators  of  priest-craft  and  tyranny,  becoming 
the  vile  means  for  debasing  and  debauching  suffer- 
ing humanity.  Nor  did  I  escape  the  certain  law  of 
cause  and  effect. 

Instead  of  realizing  my  schemes  and  dreams  for 
sway  and  rule,  I  reaped  the  malignity  and  hatred 
of  those  who  suffered  by  the  pernicious  results  of  my 
labors,  and  the  vilest  ingratitude  of  all  for  whose 
benefit  1  delved  and  toiled  in  realms  where  but  few 
of  the  selected  chosen  had  been  able  to  enter. 
They  simply  used  me  as  their  tool,  to  be  thrown 
aside  and  cast  away  as  soon  as  their  purposes  were 
attained.  Too  late  I  realized  the  value  of  favors 
from  the  great.  Disenchanted  and  disappointed,  yet 
might  my  career  have  been  different  but  for  the 
blighting  discovery  that  one  who  owed  to  me  the 
preservation  of  his  throne,  sceptre  and  crown  had 
robbed  and  despoiled  me  of  that  one  irretrievable 
treasure,  an  idolized  and  madly-worshipped  woman. 
"While  ceaselessly  engaged  in  my  laboratory  and 


LUNAR   INTAGLIOS.  55 

among  my  books  and  manuscripts,  over  problems 
by  which  successfully  to  hold  in  check  his  ever-re- 
bellious subjects,  he  took  from  me  the  only  being  to 
whom  my  soul  was  wedded  and  who  I  fancied 
should  become  my  wife.  True,  she  objected  to  this 
even  when  absolutely  in  my  power.  It  was  neces- 
sary, therefore,  unscrupulously  to  kidnap  her  from 
parent  and  friends. 

This  is  not  an  unusual  procedure  in  our  Oriental 
fashion,  when  one  wishes  to  possess  himself  of  some 
obstinate  maiden.  Yet  when  she  at  last  to  all 
appearances  received  my  wooing  complacently,  she 
took  the  first  occasion  to  betray  me — I  never 
learned  how.  She  met  my  pretended  friend  and 
patron.  They  had  previously  been  acquainted  and 
indulged  in  some  foolish  flirtations.  He  carried 
her  away  and  actually  married  her.  I  swore  ven- 
geance! — vengeance  to  the  whole  race  of  mortals! 
And  faithfully,  too  faithfully  have  I  kept  my  oath. 
Goaded  on  by  rage  and  desperation,  I  set  free  a  demon 
in  that  nether  world  which,  under  guise  of  pleasure 
and  exhilaration,  has  proved,  and  forever  will  prove, 
the  veriest  instrument  of  perdition — "Intoxicating 
Drink"!  The  evil  results  of  my  malign  calcu- 
lations exceeded  my  most  sanguine  expectation. 
Satan  incarnate  must  have  lent  me  the  inspiration 
for  the  accomplish rffent  of  this  fell  work.  I  have 
had  the  satisfaction  of  seeing  its  first  effects.  My 
false  friend,  on  whom  I  maliciously  practised  to 
ascertain  its  fatal  results,  went  mad.  Meanwhile  it 
besotted  no  less  his  whole  realm.  Onward  and 
irresistible  it  rolls  now  through  all  climes  and  zones, 
overwhelming  all  conditions  and  spheres,  high  and 
low,  poor  and  rich,  the  ignorant  and  wise,  the  young 
and  old.  Such  is  the  fearful,  horrible  revenge  of 
one  spurned  and  betrayed  in  love !  Though  I  have 
quaffed  the  exquisite  sweetness  of  my  vengeance  to 


56  BEN  BEOR. 

the  very  dregs,  yet  retribution,  keen,  sharp  and 
quick,  with  hollow-eyed  torments,  has  followed  in 
the  wake  of  my  footsteps.  As  if  to  verify  an  old 
adage,  "  Wherewith  one  sinneth,  therewith  shall  he 
be  punished,"  I  myself  became  the  victim  of  my 
lately  invented  beverage.  My  mortal  career  ended 
with  that  frightful  and  stupendous  finale  reserved 
for  all  drunkards — the  dread  disease,  a  species  of 
terrible  delirium.  Spare  me  the  recital  of  the  shud- 
dering torments  which  awaited  me  after  I  had 
shuffled  off  the  mortal  coil.  Suffice  it  to  say  that 
for  ages  which  seemed  like  eternities,  amidst  the 
most  excruciating  remorse,  consuming  horrors  and 
the  pangs  of  true  repentance,  at  last  there  was 
vouchsafed  to  me,  as  I  fervently  hoped,  a  proba- 
tionary respite,  by  being  permitted  to  enter  on  this 
shadow-world.  Alas  and  alas!  the  torments  which 
I  hitherto  had  endured  were  trifles  compared  to  the 
trials  that  awaited  me.  Scarcely  had  I  entered 
here — what  must  I  behold  !  Yonder  villain  who  had 
betrayed  me;  this  woman  who  had  spurned  my 
love — here  they  are  in  the  enjoyment  of  perfect 
conjugal  bliss;  honored,  loved  and  distinguished, 
as  falls  but  to  the  envied  share  of  even  the  most 
fortunate ;  governing  and  ruling  the  whole  realm 
of  this  Moon  as  the  "  Melech "  and  "Malkah." 
Then  1  learned  by  experience  ^that  there  is  some- 
thing more  bitter  than  death:  something  more  ter- 
rible than  the  sufferings  of  the  infernal  regions — 
Jealousy  and  Hatred  !  At  once  anew  awoke  my 
old  passion.  ]STo  matter  what  thereafter  be  my 
fate,  no  care  what  troubles  should  linger  for  me 
in  the  future,  once  more  I  panted  fiercely  for 
revenge — to  deal  out  destruction  and  calamity  to 
my  rival  and  his  doting  bride.  I  have  accomplished 
it.  Verily  1  have  succeeded !  All  here  is  now 
ferment,  confusion  and  anarchy.  How  I  revel  in 


LUNAR   INTAGLIOS.  57 

the  coming  chaos  !  I  see  it  all,  as  it  were,  already. 
My  work  is-  done,  and  now  I  am  content.  I  have 
lost  all  sense  of  fear  or  terror.  Come  what  may, 
I  am  prepared.  There  is  but  one  wish  left  me,  one 
craving  yet  to  be  achieved.  Grant  it  if  thou  hast 
power ;  deny  it  if  thou  seest  fit — annihilation — 
utter,  absolute,  final,  moral  and  physical  dissolution. 
But  do  thou  thy  worst,  I  defy  thee  and  our  Maker  I" 


INTAGLIO  THE  SIXTH. 

THE    RECORD    OF    THE    CHIEF    SCRIBE. 

Appalled  and  astounded  did  we  stand,  all  who 
were  present  at  the  awful,  blasphemous  recital 
of  our  state  prisoner.  Consternation  was  visible 
on  every  face,  depicting  a  unanimous  feeling.  The 
question  no  doubt  prevailed  in  many  breasts :  "  What 
if  there  is  no  power  to  neutralize  the  revolting 
viciousness  of  this  malignant  monster?"  There  he 
stood,  defiant  and  bold,  quivering  and  panting  from 
the  excitement  and  the  extraordinary  exertion. 
The  holy  prophet  alone  appeared  calm  and  wonder- 
fully composed.  Stern  and  resolute  as  his  features 
remained,  yet  there  was  something  sublimely  sad  and 
benignant  in  his  eyes.  With  a  sway  of  the  hand  he 
motioned  me  to  his  side,  and  broke  the  oppressive 
silence  by  the  command  :  "  Write  !  Write  down  the 
judgment  of  this  wretched  being.  I  shall  now  dic- 
tate to  thee  his  sentence  : 

"  There  is  no  annihilation  in  the  code  of  the 
Creator!  Even  a  fiend  like  this  criminal  can- 
not be  blotted  from  the  record  of  final  mercy.  But 
extraordinary  baseness  requires  special  remedies. 
Listen,  then,  to  thy  doom,  unalterable  and  irrevoc- 
able: 


58  BEN  BEOR. 

"  Before  tliou,  Ben-Beor,  wilt  be  permitted  to 
start  anew  on  thy  spiritual  purification  in  the 
depths  and  despair  of  Sheol ;  and  before  thou  mayst 
thereafter  recommence  probation  for  atonement  and 
reconciliation  with  the  All-Merciful : 

"  Back  to  earth  thou  hereby  art  consigned. 
There  thou  must  wander  in  thy  human  body  from 
generation  to  generation,  without  rest  or  quiet. 
Driven  by  an  irresistible  impulse,  from  place  to 
place,  from  zone  to  zone,  there,  thou  rebel,  fiend 
and  seducer,  shalt  witness  the  baneful  results  of  thy 
accursed  work.  Rivers  of  blood  and  streams  of 
tears  continually  flowing  in  every  quarter  of  the 
globe,  shall  remind  thee  of  thy  wickedness  and 
crimes.  Every  felon  of  note  shall  become  thy  special 
agent!  The  ignorant,  brutal  and  debased  shall 
at  all  times  be  thy  followers!  But  thy  veriest  suc- 
cesses, evil  though  these  be,  shall  yet  be  the  certain 
overthrow  of  sin.  For  every  step  of  retrogression 
wljiich  thou  shalt  behold  must  witness  still  the  glo- 
rious, steady  march  of  peace,  progress,  tolerance 
arid  liberty.  And  to  the  sworn  foes  of  thy  implac- 
able wrath,  the  chosen  people  of  Israel,  though 
they  will  undergo  martyrdom  by  the  hands  of  blind 
hatred,  yet  to  them  is  assigned  the  eternal  mission 
to  bring  about  exalted  salvation,  the  kingdom  of 
God.  Thy  worst  punishment  shall  come  by  the 
power  through  which  other  men  find  happiness  in 
their  mortal  lives:  Forever  the  rapturous  beauty 
of  Merris,  thy  first  love,  reproduced  in  some  female 
form,  during  the  ages  to  come,  shall  prove  thy  liv- 
ing torment.  Creep  on,  miserable  wretch,  until 
the  measure  of  retribution  for  thy  iniquity  shall  be 
full !  The  time  at  last  will  come  when  thou  shalt 
stray  to  a  country  as  yet  unknown  and  undis- 
covered. In  the  morning-light  of  universal  Free- 
dom and  religious  Tolerance  will  there  arise  a  new 


LUNAR   INTAGLIOS.  59 

nation.  Then  the  malediction  that  rests  upon  thee 
shall  be  changed  into  blessing.  Then  at  last  shall 
the  hour  strike  when  in  the  solitude  of  cave-life — 
*  a  Eecluse  in  the  wild  Mountains ' — thou  shalt  once 
more  be  permitted  by  God's  never-ending  mercy, 
to  die  ! 

"And  as  a  token  and  sign  that  this,  my  judgment, 
is  approved  and  accepted  on  High,  I  again,  as  once 
when  standing  on  Mount  Carmel  in  presence  of  the 
Baal  prophets,  invoke  the  Lord  to  send  fire  from 
Heaven,  that  these  people  may  know  that  Thou, 
Lord,  art  God." 

Barely  had  the  words  left  the  upturned  face  when 
the  whole  firmament  was  lit  up  amazingly  with 
sheets  of  fire,  and  bolts  of  lightning  flew  hither  and 
thither.  Amidst  the  terrible  commotion  of  nature, 
suddenly  the  prophet  stretched  forth  his  hands, 
grasping  with  unexpected  force  the  struggling, 
cringing  culprit,  lifted  him  high  in  the  air,  and 
hurled  him  whirling  into  space,  where  he  disap- 
peared with  the  most  terrible  screams,  that  grew 
fainter  and  fainter  as  he  was  lost  gradually  to  sight. 

Every  one  of  us  fell  on  our  knees,  with  one 
accord  exclaiming :  "  The  Lord  alone  is  the  true 
God  !  The  Lord  alone  is  the  true  God ! " 


IN.TAGLIO  THE  SEVENTH. 

HARROWING    SIGHTS    ON    EARTH. 

Agreeably  to  the  instructions  of  my  superiors,  I, 
the  Second  Scribe,  have  caused  the  placing  at  the 
disposal  of  our  divine  Messenger  the  large  and 
powerful  eye-tube.  As  soon  as  it  was  set  in 
proper  position  by  the  operators  he  immediately 
proceeded  to  make  use  thereof,  and  I  was 


-_:     —  - 


A   :•;   -.- 
:.* 


62  BEN  BEOR. 

fied,  we  all  stood  around  him  in  utter  conster- 
nation. But  his  swoon  lasted  only  for  a  few  mo- 
ments. Presently  he  springs  to  his  feet  and,  as  if 
to  efface  and  make  us  forget  his  mortal  weakness, 
with  thundering  voice  he  cries  out:  "  I  hear  the 
maddened  foe  coming  !  The  frenzied  shadow-hosts 
are  upon  us !  Instantly  they  will  be  here  !  Prepare 
— prepare  !  The  supreme  catastrophe  is  at  hand  ! 
The  Lord  Himself  is  nigh  in  judgment ! " 


INTAGLIO  THE  EIGHTH. 

REVOLUTION. 

While  the  momentous  events  related  by  my  prede- 
cessor, the  Second  Scribe,  were  transpiring  in  the 
vestibule  before  the  observatory,  others  of  even 
more  ponderous  importance  took  place  in  the  sub- 
planetary  domain,  which  I,  the  Third  Secretary, 
was  to  write  down. 

At  all  hours  of  the  long  night  the  shadow-inhabi- 
tants had,  with  even  more  than  usual  alertness, 
exercised  their  watchful  espionage  on  the  terres- 
trial doings  below  them.  Affairs  of  extraordinary 
interest  seem  to  go  on  there.  With  the  smaller 
eye-tubes  which  they  had  constructed  for  them- 
selves, by  aid  of  Balaam,  they  with  uninterrupted 
steadiness  make  observations  in  one  direction 
and  seemingly  upon  one  point.  Suddenly  this  is 
changed.  A  cry  of  horror  issues  from  the  camp. 
A  human  figure  is  seen  hurled  with  giant's  force  over 
the  moon.  With  immeasurable  velocity  the  liv- 
ing object,  twirling  over  and  over  and  ejaculating 
the  most  fearful  and  piercing  cries,  revolves 
downward  through  space.  Now  the  amazed  spec- 
tators, bewildered  at  the  startling  nature  of  this 


LUNAR   INTAGLIOS.  63 

unexpected  revelation,  were  secretly  joined  by  a 
body  of  treacherous  guards,  who  long  since  were 
disaffected.  This  revolutionary  crowd  speeds  along 
the  densely  packed  avenues  and  makes  known  the 
summary  judgment  which  has  been  visited  by  the 
stranger  who  so  unexpectedly  assumed  power  and 
authority.  The  wildest  commotion  breaks  forth 
among  the  frenzied  hosts,  who  had  thus  far  looked 
upon  the  so  terribly  chastised  monster  as  their 
most  effectual  ally  and  prospective  leader.  Soon  it 
becomes  known  also  that  their  new  military  adjuncts 
are  in  possession  of  the  secret  storage  place  of  the 
lately  invented  combustibles,  and  by  one  accord 
they  are  placed  as  leading  chiefs  to  guide  the  now 
passion-intoxicated  masses  to  the  ominous  stores. 
Firebrands  and  torches  of  all  kinds  are  quickly  pro- 
cured, and  the  wild  hordes,  unbridled  and  unre- 
strained, like  fiends  let.  loose,  storm  away  towards 
the  thus  far  hidden  receptacles,  bent  upon  demoli- 
tion and  destruction.  It  is  at  this  terrific  moment 
— the  sun  had  just  arisen  and  brought  us  daylight 
ere  they  had  time  to  carry  out  their  diabolical  in- 
tentions— when  the  prophet  Elijah  cried  out :  "Pre- 
pare !  prepare  !  the  supreme  catastrophe  is  at  hand ! 
The  Lord  Himself  is  nigh  in  judgment !" 

Then  I  am  required  by  him  to  chronicle  upon  the 
last  plate,  the  following  final  occurrences  as  they 
transpire  before  our  eyes  : 

An  immense  hand  becomes  visible,  moved  by  a 
correspondingly  sized  arm.  It  is  stretched  forth 
and  lights  the  fuse  which  leads  to  the  fire-laden 
magazines.  Turning  toward  the  approaching  furi- 
ous mob,  with  one  sweep  it  hurls  them  towards  the 
now  suddenly  opening  tremendous  craters,  from 
whence  the  lurid  flames  reveal  the  indescribable 
terrors  of  the  other  side  of  the  moon.  As  if  driven 
by  an  irresistible  impulse,  in  fearful  stampede  the 


64  BEN   BEOR. 

entire  host  of  rebels  fly  headlong  thither  and  dis- 
appear, howling,  screeching  and  screaming. 

I  see  the  ignited  fuse  eating  its  way  slowly 
towards  the  underground  quartz-hewn  chambers 
of  the  regal  palace.  The  holy  prophet,  like  a 
spirit,  determined  and  inspired,  places  himself  at 
the  outermost  point  of  the  craters.  The  fiery 
chariot  in  which  he  came  approaches  towards  us. 
Melech,  Malkah,  and  all  ministers  and  scribes,  are 
impelled  to  mount  the  mysterious  vehicle.  I 
remain  to  the  last,  still  recording. 

Already  the  catastrophe  of  explosion  has  com- 
menced. Mountains  are  hurled  upon  mountains; 
crevices  beyond  sight  in  huge  extent  open  every- 
where ;  basins  of  immeasurable  magnitude  become 
visible  ;  all  the  elements  seem  to  have  broken  loose ; 
shattered  and  chaotic  lies  everything ;  oceans  of 
fire  and  seas  of  flame  rush  forth  belching  and  thun- 
dering from  every  direction.  Amidst  all  this  I  see 
the  man  of  God,  grown  like  unto  a  giant  form, 
stand  unmoved  and  firm.  Now  I  am  impelled  to 
move  towards  my  companions.  Night  is  coming 
on — thick,  impenetrable  night.  We  move  upwards 
towards  heaven.  The  prophet  commands  me  to 
write  this  last  sentence: 

"Behold  I  will  send  to  you  the  prophet  Elijah  be- 
fore the  great  and  awful  day  of  the  Lord  cometh. 
And  he  shall  turn  the  hearts  of  the  fathers  to  the 
children,  and  the  hearts  of  the  children  to  their 
fathers. 

"Pen  abo  w'hikysi  es ho-wez  cherem" 

n«  warn 


LUNAR   INTAGLIOS.  65 

ADDENDUM  I. 

A  foot-note  from  the  Kecluse  explains  here  that  he 
remembers  these  to  be  the  very  last  words  of  the 
Old  Testament  (Malaehi  iii.  24),  and  that  he  is 
unable  to  decipher  intelligently  the  final  sentences 
appending  them  to  his  manuscripts,  they  having, 
as  he  expresses  it,  no  doubt  reference  to  the  desti- 
nies of  that  mystic  being  who  shows  his  face  and 
figure  nightly  when  the  Levanah  is  full,  and  then 
reveals  on  her  surface  the  outlines  of 

THE  MAN  IN  THE  MOON. 

The  most  curious  part  of  this  quaint  recital  ap- 
pears in  the  fact  that  the  Recluse,  during  the 
absorbing  task  of  deciphering  the  inscriptions  on 
the  Intaglios,  has  entirely  forgotten  his  identity 
and  intimate  connection  with  the  record  of  the 
aerolite.  This,  however,  will  not  appear  anoma- 
lous, when  considering  the  severe  strain  on  the 
already  over-excited  mental  faculties  of  so  aged  a 
person. 

The  cataclysm  of  the  destruction  of  the  moon's 
visible  surface  and  "  the  story  of  the  man  "  showing 
himself  nightly  on  the  luminary,  as  she  walks  full 
through  the  horizon,  closes  the  translation  of  the 
Semitic  inscriptions. 

But  a  large  mass  of  manuscript  is  appended, 
forming  the  subject  of  the  second  roll,  the  contents 
of  which  are  of  equal  interest  with  the  translations. 
It  contains  the  memoirs  of  that  singular  cave- 
dweller  who  withdrew  from  human  society  to  end 
his  life  here  in  the  untrodden  solitude. 

The  incidents  related  must  have  required  sound, 
sober  thought.  The  story  told  is  of  lucid,  logical 
progression.  The  characters  delineated  are  penned 
with  deep  penetration  into  human  nature.  The 
language  used,  although  in  its  idiomatic  and  pecu- 


66  BEN  BEOR. 

liar  construction,  reveals  the  foreigner,  who  has 
acquired  it  by  study,  never  tantamount  to  the  ease 
and  fluency  of  those  to  the  manner  born  ;  yet  it  is 
terse,  nervous,  and  at  times  even  eloquent,  showing 
the  skilled  hand  of  fair  experience.  Were  it  not 
for  these  cumulated  facts  the  whole  might  be  looked 
upon  as  the  wild  hallucination  of  a  mind  disor- 
dered by  the  isolated  life  and  peculiar  surroundings 
of  the  eccentric  author. 

Without  further  comment  they  are  hereby  sub- 
mitted to  the  candid  and  unprejudiced  perusal  of 
the  reader.  If  they  achieve  no  more  than  to  while 
away  pleasantly  a  lonesome  hour  of  leisure,  they 
have  then  attained  some  object ;  but  they  perhaps 
casually  will  do  more.  It  is  said  in  some  ancient 
writing,  that  he  who  makes  two  blades  of  grass 
grow  where  before  was  but  one,  is  a  benefactor  of 
our  kind.  Maybe  some  thought  is  awakened,  some 
kindlier  feeling  aroused,  some  prejudice  dispelled, 
and  the  great  brotherhood  recognized,  which  en- 
twines all  humanity — this  great  principle  so  often 
clouded  and  obscured  by  the  machinations  of  those 
who  rule  and  batten  on  the  ignorance  and  super- 
stitions of  the  misguided  masses.  Therefore  this 
quaint  autobiography,  entitled  in  juxtaposition  to 
some  other  well-known  story,  The  Wandering  Gen- 
tile, must  not  be  withheld  from  the  intelligent 
world. 

The  whole  plot  has  reference  to  an  incessant  feud, 
carried  on  through  all  the  eras  of  the  past,  between 
two  fierce  opponents,  their  respective  causes  and 
hosts  of  followers,  with  ever  alternating  results. 
It  is  the  deathly  struggle  between  Moses  and  kindred 
Liberators,  and  Ben  Beor,  the  Anti-Messiah ;  and 
incidentally  of  "Moabite"  against  "Hebrew." 
In  many  instances  the  poor  harassed  Jew  is 
brought  near  to  the  verge  of  gasping  out,  seem- 
ingly, his  last  breath.  But  at  the  very  lowest  stage 


LUNAR   INTAGLIOS.  67 

of  his  despair  and  when  near  annihilation,  again 
and  again,  as  if  by  some  miraculous  power,  he 
rouses  himself  and  renews  the  combat  with  re-ani- 
inated  courage,  enabling  him  to  patiently  suffer, 
endure  and  struggle  on  for  existence  and  fulfilment 
of  a  mission. 

There  is  a  tradition,  not  embodied  in  the  pages 
of  the  shadow-author,  which  may  have  reference 
to  these  historical  affairs,  and  throw  light  upon 
the  origin  of  a  quaint  orthodox  ceremony  yet  faith- 
fully practised  by  conservative  Israelites.  It  re- 
sembles in  its  nature  the  rallying  cry  of  a  soldier 
who  in  defeat  prepares  once  again  to  meet  the 
enemy.  Lifting  up  his  eyes  to  the  starry  sky 
whenever  the  nocturnal  sickle  of  light  reappears 
as  new  moon  on  the  horizon,  the  patient  martyr  of 
Palestinian  origin  bends  his  head  in  devout  prayer 
to  sanctify  himself  by  that  glorious  phenomenon, 
filled  with  fresh  hope,  trust  and  returning  vigor 
to  carry  on  the  task  given,  as  he  solemnly  vows, 
by  Him  who  of  yore  had  made  this  strange  pre- 
diction :  "  Behold,  I  will  send  to  you  the  prophet 
Elijah  before  the  great  and  awful  day  of  the  Lord 
cometh."  Then  the  one  who  thus  prayeth  springs 
bodily  upward  as  high  as  his  physical  strength  will 
permit,  and  exclaims  the  words  from  his  old  ritual : 
"As  little  as  I  can  reach  thee,  O  Levanah,  so  little 
may,  by  aid  of  Heaven,  my  enemies  be  permitted  to 
prevail  over  me  ! " 

This  supplementary  story  is  then  presented  as  a 
singular  reminder  of  the  old  legend,  the  "  Wander- 
ing Jew"  ~No  less  startling  and  romantic,  but  by 
far  more  consonant  with  and  responsive  to  the 
natural  sequence  and  order  in  the  harmony  of 
events,  it  forms  a  fair  commentary  to  the  annals 
of  bygone  ages. 

.Respectfully  submitted, 

THE  EDITOR  AND  PUBLISHER. 


PAKT  II. 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA, 


BEN-BEOR,  THE  WANDERING   GENTILE. 


BIOGRAPHICAL    MEMOIRS   OF   THE   RECLUSE 
OF   THE   MOUNTAINS. 


A  Seguel  to  the  Story  of  ;t  TJie  Man  in  the  Moon. 


(09) 


PHANTASMAGORIA  I. 

PECULIAR    HALLUCINATIONS. 

The  following  pages,  written  by  me,  "  the  Recluse 
of  the  Mountains,"  relate  to  my  late  experiences 
while  a  solitary  dweller  in  this  cave,  and  to  the 
auspicious  events  constituting  the  history  of  my 
previous  career.  They  were  commenced  on  the  night 
of  the  10th  of  September,  1780  A.  D.,  ushering  in 
the  first  day  of  the  seventh  month  Tishri,  the 
Jewish  New  Year,  5540  A.  M.  With  the  last 
stroke  of  twelve  from  my  old  Schwarzwald  clock, 
which  hangs  on  the  eastern  wall  of  my  secluded 
habitation,  I  threw  down  the  quill  which  I 
had  plied  incessantly  since  early  morning.  My 
self-imposed  task  was  done  at  last.  The  final  sen- 
tence on  the  Aerolite  containing  the  wonderful 
story  of  "  The  Man  in  the  Moon,"  which  fell  from 
heaven  at  my  door,  is  transcribed  from  the  Hebrew 
characters  into  the  English  language.  The  whole 
narrative  told  therein  is  before  me.  There  I  sat, 
with  my  poor  throbbing  head,  white  from  age,  like 
the  glistening  stalactites  which  surrounded  rne,  rest- 
ing in  my  thin,  emaciated  hands.  Nothing  dis- 
turbed the  nocturnal  quiet,  except  now  and  then  the 
monotonous  chirping  of  crickets  or  the  far-away  dis- 
mal hooting  of  owls.  Irresistibly,  a  strange,  unac- 
countable feeling  crept  over  me.  Now  that  this 
phenomenal  work  is  completed,  I  am  impelled  to 
record  what  I  feel,  and  what  I  remember  of  my 
past  life. 

I   am   under   a   spell   of    sadness    and    mental 

(71) 


72  BEN  BEOR. 

depression    which   is    almost    overpowering.      In 
this  melancholy   mood,   the   whole  story   on   the 
Intaglios  involuntarily  passes   before  my  excited 
vision.     Scene  after  scene,  as  if  imbued  with  life 
and    assuming  realistic   existence,   rolls  in  quick  • 
succession  before  my  eyes.    Staring,  almost  frenzied, 
at   the   passing    shadow-pictures,   I   first    am    as- 
tonished,  then   startled,  by  a  gradually  growing 
revelation — started  like  an  infinitesimal  speck  on  a 
far-away  horizon.    The  strange  vision  expands  by 
degrees  into  shape  and  form,  as  it  draws  nearer  and 
nearer,  until  at  last  its  giant  proportions  rage  over 
the  world  like  a  destructive  storm.     An  invisible 
hand  draws  slowly  but  steadily  the  veil  from  my 
recollections,  which   seem  to  have  been  dormant. 
The  clouds  part,  and  the  sky  in  the  far-away  dis- 
tance  becomes  light.     Little  by  little  it   dawns 
upon  my  dumbfounded  mind  that  I,  hapless  being, 
have  been  interwoven  with  the  web  and  woof  of 
these  conglomerated  annals ;  that  I  have  been  an 
actor — nay,  a  chief  actor — an  incessant  participant 
and  eye-witness  to  the  astounding  events,  the  record 
of  which  fell  at  my  door  from  heaven.     Am  I  de- 
mented?    Are  these  my  hands  ?     Is  this  my  breast 
in  which  the  staggered  heart  beats  and  palpitates 
as  if  it  would  break  through  its  prison-house  ?     Is 
this  my  fever-burning  head,  in  which  the  brain  on 
fire  seeks  to  burst   the  adamantine  seams  of  my 
water-dripping  brow?     Horrible!    horrible!     No 
other  mortal  was  ever  compelled  to  undergo  the 
terrors  and  consternation  which  are  now  upon  me. 
I  see  it  all,  I  see  it  all !     Great  God  !  have  I,  Thy 
miserable   creature,   been    spared    for  this  ?     Was 
stagnant  life  preserved  to  be  suddenly  again  ani- 
mated into  the  vortex  of  existence,  to  realize  this 
dire,   this  overwhelming  knowledge  ?     My  whole 
body   quivers  in   anguish;    while  my   white   hair 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  73 

rises  on  end,  clutched  by  my  bony,  convulsive 
hands.  Springing  to  my  feet,  I  stand  erect,  gloat- 
ing upon  the  apparition  before  me.  Century 
after  century  rolls  with  blood-begrimed  records, 
in  huge  cylinder-forms,  before  my  face.  Every- 
where my  name!  Everywhere  my  likeness!  In 
a  thousand  different  shapes,  but  my  name,  my 
person!  Out  with  the  terrible  fact!  out  with  the 
staggering  truth :  "  1  am  Balaam,  the  ever-living 
Moabite  !  "  Now  I  know  it ;  now  I  realize  it !  I 
am  indeed  that  execrated  being,  hurled  back  from 
the  moon  to  the  earth  by  the  hands  of  the  prophet 
Elijah! 

As  I  came  down  headlong,  vaulting  through  the 
measureless  space,  I  recorded  in  my  brain  and 
heart  a  fearful  oath,  at  which  the  universe  must 
have  shuddered.  I  vowed  in  my  Hind  wrath 
that  from  the  moment  when  my  feet  should  touch 
the  ground  of  mother  earth,  for  my  doom  as  "  the 
Wandering  Gentile"  I  would  forever  prove  the 
hunting,  cursing,  sworn,  maledicted,  fell  destroyer 
of  Peace,  Liberty  and  Might.  My  sole  purpose  in 
the  mundane  world  should  be  henceforth  to  arraign 
the  thrones  and  churches  against  the  people,  crush- 
ing Truth,  Freedom  and  Law.  In  this  I  mean  to 
employ  all  the  evil  agencies  and  passions  to  which 
the  gross,  low  nature  of  man  is  heir,  combating 
with  all  the  powers  of  hell  the  progress  of  civiliza- 
tion. Such  shall  be  the  unremitting  task  and 
revenge  through  coming  ages,  of  him  who  forever 
must  be  known  as  "  BEN  BEOR,  THE  ANTI-MESSIAH  !  " 

When  I  realized  the  truth  of  what  seemed  at  first 
a  fearful  hallucination  I  fell  prostrate  to  the 
ground.  How  long  I  lay  unconscious  there  1  can- 
not tell.  But  at  last  reason  returned.  I  then  rose 
staggering  to  my  feet,  approaching  the  table.  The 
first  thing  which  I  noticed,  to  my  utter  dismay, 


74  BEN   BEOR. 

was  fliat  the  clock  which  I  during  all  these  periods 
had  so  assiduously  kept  going,  stood  still ;  the  hands 
showed  midnight.     Now  I  had  lost  the  means  of 
knowing  time.    It  was,  however,  night  outside,  yet. 
I  had  grown  calm  and  collected ;  but  the  recollec- 
tions of  a  few  hours  previous  were  upon  me  still. 
Feeble  and  debilitated  as  I  felt,  my  efforts  to  rise 
at  last  succeeded.     As  I  leaned  for  support  upon 
the  table,  my  eyes  were  mechanically  directed  to 
the  inkstand,  pens  and  paper.     I  tried  to  arrange 
in  some  order  the  blank  leaves  which  were  scattered 
about,  but  I  was  so  weary  and  sleepy  it  seemed 
almost  impossible  for  me  to  collect  them.     I  am 
perfectly  sure  that  all  I  did  then  was  to  draw  the 
rustic  chair  to  where  I  stood,  and  dropping  into 
it,  fall  away  into  deep  slumber.    I  would  be  willing 
now  to  swear  that  I  never  touched  a  pen.   Suddenly 
I  was  aroused  by  a  faint  knocking  at  the  entrance 
of  my  cavern.     In  the  first  glow  of  a  chill  Sep- 
tember morn,  as  darkness  seemed  to  wrestle  with 
light  for  supremacy,  there  stood  a  tall,  erect  form, 
draped  in  white,  shroud-like  garments.    In  his  right 
arm  lie  held  a  scroll,  such  a  one  as  I  had  some- 
times seen  when  1  visited  a  Jewish  synagogue ;  it  is 
called  "  Sefer  Hatorah."   In  his  left  hand,  that  hung 
carelessly  by  his  side,  he  grasped  a  peculiarly  shaped 
ram's  horn.     These  things  struck  me  first;   then 
I  looked  at  the  face.     Semi-dark  as  it  was  every- 
where as  yet,  I  riveted  my  eyes  upon  the  features ; 
they  became  lit  up  gradually  unto  brilliancy.    The 
whole  head  was  soon  radiant  with  a  halo  of  light. 
It  was  a  beautiful  face — dignified,  almost  austere, 
yet  complacent  and  beaming  with   mildness   and 
benevolence.    The  most  conspicuous  characteristic  of 
it  was  the  long  silver-white  hair  and  beard,  speak- 
ing of  old  age ;  with  wonderfully  preserved  youthful 
and  healthy  features,  and  without  a   wrinkle  or 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  75 

a  line,  revealing  strong  and  buoyant  virility  en- 
tirely unlocked  for  at  such  time  of  life.  Where  had 
I  seen  this  countenance  before  ?  He  certainly  was 
no  stranger.  Then  it  occurred  to  me,  as  if  by  a 
stroke  of  lightning  clearing  for  an  instant  the  dark 
enveloping  my  memory,  it  was  the  same  person 
whom  I  had  beheld  at  the  horrible  instant  when  I 
was  hurled  from  the  moon  earthward — the  iden- 
tical individual  who  then  and  there  had  pronounced 
my  doom  and  judgment — the  prophet  Elijah  !  So 
here  lie  comes  again  to  taunt  me,  the  irrepressible 
foe  who  has  followed  me  throughout  my  whole  long, 
cursed  life's  career,  ever  thwarting  my  plans,  ever 
warding  off  the  final  blow  from  my  hands,  ever 
defying  my  strongest  efforts,  part  and  parcel  of  my 
task  of  vengeance :  "To  drive  from  the  face  of  the 
earth  the  Israelites,  his  people,  whom  he  vaunted 
to  have  been  selected  as  l God- chosen'  for  the  pro- 
mulgation of  the  law,  embodied  in  that  book  of 
inspired  revelation  called  the  Torah."  There  he 
stands  again,  as  if  to  show  me  by  contrast  that  I 
have  grown  aged,  feeble,  debilitated  and  impotent, 
and  he,  though  venerable  in  appearance,  yet  strong, 
full  of  vigor,  powerful  and  almost  rejuvenated.  But 
I  will  show  the  impertinent  intruder  that  I  yet  have 
strength  in  these  arms,  that  my  rage  nerves  my 
muscles  with  former  giant  strength,  that  I  yet  can 
be  agile  and  quick!  I  made  one  strong  effort 
and  sprang  toward  him,  intent  to  throttle  him  if 
my  fingers  should  get  at  his  throat.  Alas !  my  con- 
tentions with  him,  my  counter-wanderer,  are  all 
futile.  As  I  leaped  to  approach  him  he  set  the 
horn  in  his  left  hand  to  his  mouth,  blows  one  long, 
quivering  blast,  which  with  a  thousand  echoes  re- 
verberated from  the  mountains,  and  then  is  gone, 
the  vision  disappearing  as  if  in  the  air.  Slowly, 
and  dismayed,  I  creep  back  to  my  seat.  My  eyes 


76  BEN  BEOR. 

fall  now  upon  the  top  sheet  of  my  pile  of  writ- 
ing paper.  I  can  barely  trust  my  senses.  It  is 
covered  with  this  story  and  some  of  those  infernal 
Hebrew  characters  which  had  so  worried  me  to 
translate  during  the  last  years.  What  does  it  all 
mean  ?  I  never  had  traced  them.  Curiosity  and 
excitement  hastened  my  will  and  I  set  to  work  to 
transcribe  the  Bible  verse.  I  see  it  at  a  gl an ce — they 
are  the  self-same  Chaldaic  words  which  a  finger 
of  tire  traced  on  the  walls  of  the  Babylonian  king 
Belshazzar !  Do  they  forebode,  too,  my  miserable 
doom  ? 

"  M'ne  ":  The  Lord  hath  numbered  thy  power 
and  hath  made  an  end  of  it. 

"  T'kel  ":  Thou  hast  been  weighed  in  the  bal- 
ance and  been  found  wanting.  (Daniel  v.  25.) 

Why  just  now  this  strange  coincidence?  Is  this 
another 'taunt  from  my  arch-enemy  ?  or  is  it — yes, 
it  must  be  so — it  is  a  supernatural  warning — the 
conviction  grows  upon  me — my  blasted  career  draws 
to  an  end,  my  work  is  nearly  done  !  The  ages  of 
my  anti-messianic  mission  have  passed  by.  I  feel 
now  an  irresistible  instinct  to  write — to  record  in 
full  the  annals  of  my  abortive  efforts.  I  have  been 
during  the  past  the  right  hand  and  mainstay  of  the 
thrones  and  churches,  to  combat  the  inalienable 
rights  and  liberty  of  the  people.  I  knew  that  this 
was  a  fight  for  life  or  death  against  the  race  who 
carried  as  their  strongest  and,  as  is  now  proved,  in- 
vincible weapon,  the  Mosaic  law.  Had  it  been 
possible  for  me  to  annihilate  'those  people,  or  that 
Book,  or  both,  the  living,  ever-spreading  repre- 
sentative embodiment  of  One  God,  One  Law,  One 
Liberated  Humanity  —  the  tyrant  master  would 
have  kept  his  slave,  nobility  and  caste  would  have 
ruled  the  serfs,  priestcraft  would  have  swayed  over 
reason  and  truth.  The  struggle  has  been  in  vain. 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  77 

These  people  live;  that  Book  lives!  Here  upon 
this  soil  of  America  I  had  determined  abroad,  from 
whence  I  came,  to  make  one  more  last  onslaught. 
The  Jews,  who  came  here  to  find  refuge  from  me, 
their  old  tormentor,  soon  would,  as  I  hoped,  forsake 
the  laws  and  traditions  of  their  ancestry.  Specu- 
lating upon  this  when  far  away,  I  fancied  that  by 
insidious  strides  they  at  last  would  voluntarily  sur- 
render the  stronghold  of  power,  their  Bible.  With 
this  great  advantage  I  reasonably  calculated  to 
work  their  ultimate  ruin  on  this  continent.  I  had 
planned  also  to  bring  the  land  back  under  the  heels 
of  some  conquering  tyrant  who,  with  aid  of  the 
fanatical  church,  would  re-establish  the  old  despotic 
order  of  things.  Yain  rebel  that  I  am  against  the 
over-ruling,  all-guiding  decrees  of  Providence,  God 
the  One !  Never  before  in  the  history  of  man  was 
the  holy-titled  Book  in  the  hands  of  such  multi- 
tudes; never  has  it  been  read,  studied,  understood, 
loved  and  revered  to  the  immeasurable  extent  by 
any  other  nation  like  this  American.  Where  it 
formerly  was  but  in  the  possession  of  the  Israelites, 
a  few  monks,  prelates  and  students  of  the  Christians, 
here  it  has  spread  into  every  house,  hut  and  tent. 
The  millions  stand  around  it  like  bulwarks  and 
guard  its  tenets,  laws  and  principles  as  if  their  very 
existence  depended  upon  its  safety.  Directly  ema- 
nating from  the  core  of  its  teachings,  Freedom, 
under  panoply  of  the  whole  power  of  a  new  gov- 
ernment, is  arrayed  to  end  on  this  continent  the  last 
vestige  of  despotism.  Having  spilled  the  blood  of 
her  sons  like  water;  poured  out  with  unstinted 
hands  her  treasures ;  victory  everywhere  perches 
upon  her  banners.  I  foresee  it  all  now — Monarchy 
is  doomed !  Right,  Truth  and  Tolerance  will  pre- 
vail !  When  these  facts  shall  be  officially  promul- 
gated, I,  Balaam  Ben  Beor,  must — and  let  me  say 
it,  thank  God— will  gladly  die! 


78  BEN   BEOR. 

The  measureless  extent  of  my  various  crimes 
may  be  perhaps  to  some  degree  assuaged  now,  by 
correcting  with  all  the  force  I  still  possess  a  terrible 
misunderstanding  assiduously  fostered  and  cun- 
ningly disseminated  by  myself  and  my  countless 
guilty  emissaries.  These  were  and  are,  often  even 
more  than  their  principal,  zealous  to  work  all  over 
this  globe.  Our  foul  stratagem  consisted  and  is  as 
yet  strenuously  maintained  in  the  most  embittering 
policy,  that  during  all  these  long  and  weary  ages 
it  has  been  the  "  Christian  Religion  "  which  acted 
and  acts  as  the  persistent,  never-to-be-reconciled 
persecutor  among  its  own  sects  and  of  the  Hebrew 
people.  This  calumny  has  been  industriously  used, 
especially  when  the  great  masses  by  our  schemes 
wallowed  in  ignorance  and  were  fired  by  fanaticism. 
But  let  it  be  here  promulgated  as  an  incontrovert- 
ible fact,  which  the  wider  it  may  be  known  the 
more  it  will  help  the  efficacy  of  my  penance : — 

"  That  never  since  the  advent  of  Him  of  ** Naza- 
reth] who,  if  the  story  of  his  life  as  reported  in  the 
New  Testament  is  correct,  was  himself  a  scion  of 
the  house  of  Judah,  and  the  lowliest  member  of  the 
race  ;  never  played  treason  or  acted  cruel  and  un- 
charitable to  his  brethren.  lie,  on  the  contrary^  in 
his  words  and  professions,  was  the  most  loving, 
humble,  humane,  sympathetic  and  most  worldly 
poor.  Never  since  his  coming,  unto  this  day,  has  a 
true  follower,  an  honest,  conscientious  member  of 
his  church  and  her  ideal  mission,  raised  arm  or 
tongue  for  deed  or  word  in  persecution,  hatred  or 
malignity  against  any  other  creed  or  race.  On  the 
contrary,  these  loved  humanity  as  all  children  of 
the  same  Father,  rejoiced  in  their  well-being*  com- 
miserated their  suffering,  and  charitably  lent  a 
helping  hand  wherever  it  was  needed.  In  this  sense 
and  throughout  their  virtuous  and  faithful  life, 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  79 

they  aimed  to  prone  to  all  doubters  that  indeed  in 
Jesus  the  Redeemer  had  appeared" 

Alas !  it  will  now  take  a  long  time  before  the 
world  shall  realize  that  it  has  been  exclusively  "the 
Ben  Beor,"  the  Anti-Messiah  and  his  cohorts,  who, 
under  all  kinds  of  successful  disguises,  have  taken 
on  mostly  the  garb  of  cant  in  close  imitation  of 
religion.  We  raged  on  earth  with  fire,  sword,  death, 
destruction,  and  tears,  under  different  names,  titles 
and  pretentious.  Combining  together  the  interest 
and  policies  of  the  State  and  Church,  and  in  the 
name  of  one  or  the  other,  we  sowed  the  seeds  of 
hatred  and  contentions,  causing  wars,  emeutes 
and  Woody  revolts  /  doing  the  work  of  Satan,  so  as 
to  make  him  ultimately  the  primate  of  this  globe, 
neutralizing,  effectually  combatting  and  thwarting 
the  work  of  Moses  the  Teacher  and  Jesus  the 
Reformer. 

What  masks,  agencies,  passions,  vices  and  crimes 
were  employed,  and  the  part  I  played  in  these 
monstrous  revels  of  shame,  sin  and  death,  form  the 
material  of  the- work  which  I  now  feel  impelled,  as 
if  by  an  uncontrollable  frenzy,  to  collect  from  the 
tablets  of  my  vivified  memory. 

Even  while  engaged  in  these  thoughts,  prelimi- 
nary to  the  task,  a  wonderful  phenomenon  makes 
itself  vividly  perceptible  to  my  strangely  agitated 
soul.  Take  whatever  period  I  will  in  the  long 
record  which  I  propose  to  perpetuate,  and  instantly 
I  behold  the  long  bygone  scenes  in  every  detail, 
like  living  pictures  in  brilliant  colors,  somewhat  in 
the  shape  of  panoramic  views.  These  rise  on 
yonder  towering  wall  of  this  cave,  which  in  ala- 
baster whiteness  faces  me  from  where  I  am  seated. 
Occurrences,  acts,  faces,  drapery  and  every  inci- 
dent connected  with  any  of  these  affairs,  are 
brought  out  distinctly  and  realistically,  to  such  an 


80  BEN  BEOR., 

extent  that  I  almost  fancy  that  I  were  living  over 
again  that  special  part  of  my  history  upon  which 
momentarily  I  have  fixed  the  focus  of  my  brain, 
in  order  to  pen  its  records  under  the  auspicious  and 
impressive  title  of  "  Phantasmagoria."  This  will 
cause  my  writing  to  become  true  facsimiles  of 
the  tableaux-vivants,  which  rise  instantaneously  at 
the  command  of  my  spiritual  vision. 

When  soon  hereafter  the  annals  of  my  poisonous 
instrumentalities  for  the  havoc  which  I  have  made 
during  the  many  centuries  since  I  returned  from 
the  moon  to  this  earth,  shall  be  completed,  may 
then  the  almighty  and  all-merciful  Lord  pardon  to 
some  redeemable  degree  the  quivering,  despairing 
soul  of  the  shadow-author. 

BALAAM  BEN  BEOR, 
The  Wandering  Gentile  and  Anti-Messiah. 


PHAJSTTASMAGOKIA  II. 

TITUS    AND    BERENICE. 

Hurled  through  eternal  space,  ever  conscious  of 
my  doom — the  malediction  of  the  Anti-Messiah — 
after  the  lapse  of  six  centuries  I  landed  at  last 
on  earth.  Was  it  accident  or  a  well-planned  design  ? 
My  feet  touched  the  ground  near  Mount  Moriah,  at 
the  period  when,  for  the  second  time,  the  temple  of 
the  Lord  was  threatened  with  destruction,  and  the 
land  of  His  chosen  people  invaded  by  a  most  pow- 
erful foreign  foe,  the  Koman  Emperor  Vespasian, 
represented  by  his  son,  the  august  Titus.  The 
siege  of  Jerusalem  had  lasted  for  months.  In  spite 
of  every  attack,  the  intrepid,  beleaguered  Hebrews 
held  out  undauntedly  against  their  assailants. 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  81 

These  were  about  to  abandon  an  effort  so  costly  in 
life  and  treasure.  A  council  of  war  had  just  been 
concluded,  and  several  of  the  wearied  commanders 
spoke  in  favor  of  withdrawing  from  a  place  which 
was  visibly  under  the  protection  of  God.  But 
Titus  would  not  listen  to  such  a  proposition.  A 
last  desperate  and  concentrated  attack  upon  the 
walls  of  the  temple  was  resolved  upon  for  the  next 
day,  the  fatal  ninth  of  "Av."  At  this  juncture  I 
joined  the  Romans,  and  was  intrusted  with  command 
of  some  troops,  in  consequence  of  my  profession  of 
bitterest  hatred  against  the  Jews  and  the  avowed 
raging  thirst  for  vengeance  to  be  visited  upon  the 
whole  nation.  Near  evening  of  the  next  day  my 
chance  came.  A  sally  from  the  temple  had  been 
risked  by  the  reckless  Hebrews;  but  after  desperately 
fighting  for  a  short  time  they  were  overthrown  and 
forced  precipitately  to  retreat.  Great  confusion 
ensued.  Amidst  this  I,  at  the  head  of  my  small 
command,  succeeded  in  scaling  the  ramparts  of  the 
citadel  on  the' western  side  of  the  temple.  With 
crazy  eagerness  I  leaped  down  into  the  inner 
court.  Recovering  instantly  from  the  stunning 
fall,  to  the  consternation  of  a  few  priests  just 
offering  their  vesper  oblations  I  hastened  to  the 
altar  where  the  sacred  fire  was  briskly  burning, 
snatched  a  brand  from  the  heap,  and  running  with 
it  hither  and  thither,  ignited  the  gold-brocaded 
draperies  which  hung  everywhere  in  the  immense 
edifice.  In  this  I  was  now  assiduously  aided  by 
my  followers.  Quicker  than  one  may  tell  it,  the 
whole  imposing  interior  was  a  sea  of  conflagra- 
tion. All  now  became  consternation  among  the 
surprised  defenders,  who  with  fearful,  piercing  cries 
ran  about  in  utmost  confusion. 

Amidst  this  havoc  I  directed  my  eyes  to  where 
the  silver  ball  in  the  now  blood-tinted  sky  walked 


82  BEN    BEOR. 

majestically  through  the  fantastic  clouds.     There  I 
plainly  beheld   the  man   who   had   so  effectually 
hurled  me  back  to  earth  from  my  former  lunar 
abode.      Every  thought  of  mine  was  elated  by  the 
consummate  vengeance  which  I  had  wrought  upon 
him,  my  persecutor.      Forward   I   sprang   to   the 
"  Bihma"  at  the  extreme  eastern  wall — ever  forward 
until  I  reached  the  Holiest  of  Holy,  where  never 
before  Gentile  had  entered.     Near  the  consecrated 
shrine,  a  grandiose  semicircle  of  preciously  clothed 
scrolls  of  the  law  shone  in  the  brilliancy  of  the  lights 
from  the  golden,  seven-armed  candlestick.    Rushing 
to  the  parchments  with  the  fury  of  a  madman,  I  tore 
from  these  witnesses  of  the  Lord's  bounty  to  Israel 
the  mantles  in  which  they  were  draped,  and  casting 
one  after  another  from  their  resting-places,  unrolled 
and  trampled  upon  them  until  the  whole  collection 
lay  in  one  confused  mass  at  my  feet.     The  uproar 
of  destruction  from  within  the  edifice  accompanied 
my  frenzied  acts  of  vengeance.     Then  I   started 
forth    again    to    where    the   monstrous    fire-fiend 
wrought  in  horrible  splendor  his  unparalleled  scenes 
of  sublime  terror.     Now,  with  the  laughter  of  a 
demon  I  sprang  ahead  to  a  point  where  the  raging 
element  seemed  to  have  concentrated    its   awful 
force.     At  this  instant  I  saw  Emperor  Titus,  with 
his  mistress  Berenice,  the  royal  daughter  of  the 
Maccabeans,  rush  in  through  the  now  open  "  Golden 
Gate."      He    looked    haggard   and    disappointed. 
Coming  near  where  I  stood,  he  cried  out  in  almost 
unearthly  tones:    "Save  the  Temple!     Stay  the 
fire  ! "    He  might  as  well  have  commanded  that  the 
light   of  the  Levanah  shining  over  us  be  extin- 
guished.     The   Roman   cohorts,  assisted  by  their 
foreign  barbarian  allies,  were  perfectly  un control- 
able.    Actuated,  however,  by  a  momentary  impulse, 
eager  to  show  my  zeal  to  serve  my  new  master,  1 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  83 

threw  myself  headlong  into  the  vortex  of  the  fire. 
The  last  I  heard  now  was  the  voice  of  a  woman 
imploring  that  I  should  be  saved.  Three  of  my 
men,  in  defiance  of  deathly  danger,  sprang  after  me 
and  dragged  me  back.  Singed,  scorched  and  blist- 
ered, I  was  barely  the  semblance  of  a  man.  While 
my  rescuers,  though  greatly  injured  themselves,  at 
once  prepared  a  litter  upon  which  to  carry  me  away, 
I  raised  my  tortured  eyelids.  Oh,  rapturous — oh, 
overwhelming  sight !  I  beheld,  not  Berenice  but 
Merris,  my  loved,  my  fatal  idol — as  near  alike  to 
the  daughter  of  Pharaoh  as  is  one  drop  of  spring- 
water  to  another.  I  squirmed  and  trembled  under 
the  agonizing  vision,  making  faint  efforts  to  raise 
myself.  Then  her  eyes  fell  upon  my  distorted, 
terror-inspiring  form.  She  nigh  fainted,  and  would 
have  fallen  had  she  not  been  caught  in  the  arms  of 
her  consort,  who  bore  her  to  the  only  place  of  safety 
— the  shrine  where  I  so  lately  had  been  busy  with 
my  vandal,  sacrilegious  work.  I  now  became  un- 
conscious. When  I  recovered  I  found  myself 
sheltered  in  the  Roman  camp,  attended  by  their 
best  physicians. 

My  attendants  and  visitors  related  to  me  there- 
after the  harrowing  incidents  as  they  occurred  hour 
after  hour  and  day  after  day,  surpassing  the  wildest 
imagination  in  ferocity,  cruelty  and  unprecedented 
persecutions.  The  whole  land  was  as  one  char- 
nel-house. They  told  me  that  nearly  one  million 
men,  the  entire  defensive  force  of  these  people,  lay 
as  festering  corpses  on  the  highways;  that  those 
not  killed  were  sold  in  the  public  markets  as  slaves. 
Loaded  with  chains,  they  were  taken  captives  to 
every  quarter  of  the  empire.  How  full  was  the 
punishment  of  this  cursed  race!  Had  I  not  with 
my  own  hands  destroyed  beyond  restoration  every 
copy  of  their  holy  books  ?  Not  one,  as  far  as  I 


84  BEN   BEOR. 

knew,  escaped  the  greedy  flames.  How  I  gloated 
over  the  fullness  of  my  well-accomplished  work  of 
the  most  complete  destruction !  Was  my  self- 
imposed  mission  on  earth  already  realized  ?  Lying 
there  in  my  comfortable  quarters,  all  suffering  and 
pangs  were  assuaged  and  recovery  hastened  by  the 

f  ratifying  consciousness  of  the  fearful  havoc  which 
had  so  successfully  wrought  upon  him  who  had 
judged  me  so  sternly  above,  and  upon  my  mundane 
adversaries  here  below.  Now  I  was  satisfied  that 
the  future  historian  would  write  upon  this  eventful 
epoch  of  Home's  victory,  "  Perditas  Judaica  !  " 
Alas  !  how  often  ever  after  have  I  flattered  my  vain 
hopes  with  this  self-same  delusion  ! 

On  no  other  ground  can  I  explain  or  account  for 
the  distinguished  and  continued  care  and  attention 
which  were  bestowed  upon  me  by  direction  and 
command  of  the  general-in-chief,  than  by  a  mistake 
under  which  he  and  his  mistress  labored.  They 
believed  that  the  injuries  which  I  had  received 
were  in  direct  consequence  of  my  efforts  in  obedi- 
ence to  the  command  of  Titus  to  save  the  temple 
by  extinguishing  the  flames.  It  seems  that  the 
lady  in  her  great  pity  had  taken  me  under  her 
special  protection  and  care. 

Repeated  inquiries  were  made  from  headquarters 
concerning  the  progress  of  my  health,  accom- 
panied by  orders  to  my  attendants  that  nothing 
which  would  hasten  my  recovery  was  to  be  left 
undone,  so  that  as  soon  as  possible  I  might  be 
taken  to  the  imperial  city  of  Rome.  After  a  week's 
careful  nursing  I  was  deemed  well  enough  to 
depart.  A  princely  conveyance  appeared  at  the 
door  of  my  lodgings.  Careful  porters  started  with 
me  for  the  first  day's  journey  Westward.  The 
officer  in  charge  had  been  instructed  to  proceed 
slowly  and  make  but  short  daily  distances.  Towards 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  85 

noon  on  the  first  day  of  our  travel,  we  arrived  at 
the  little  city  of  Modin.  Here  we  halted  for 
the  night.  In  advance  there  had  been  prepared  the 
best  quarters  to  be  found,  and  I  was  carried  into  a 
house  which  belonged,  as  I  was  told,  to  a  favorite 
of  the  emperor,  the  distinguished  Hebrew  liabbi 
Jochanan  ben  Sakkai.  For  some  eminent  service, 
he,  after  having  been  carried  in  a  coffin,  shamming 
death,  from  beleaguered  Jerusalem,  was  permitted 
to  settle  here  with  a  colony  of  his  students.  Thence 
started  the  fatal  nucleus  of  my  future  fate,  a  school 
for  the  maintenance  and  propagation  of  the  "  Law 
of  Moses."  Imagine  my  chagrin  and  disappoint- 
ment when  I  must  see,  on  passing  through  the  hall 
of  my  hostelry,  any  number  of  those  hated  scrolls 
lying  before  the  youths  seated  at  the  feet  of  their 
master,  listening  with  glowing  zeal  to  his  enthusi- 
astic words.  Stung  to  the  soul  by  finding  so  soon 
and  so  unexpectedly  foiled  and  shattered  my  fond 
belief  of  having  destroyed  those  cursed  parchments 
beyond  recovery,  gladly  would  I  have  set  the 
torch  to  this  house  during  the  short  interval  that  I 
was  destined  to  dwell  here.  But  I  was  not  left 
unattended  during  all  this  time  for  a  single  moment ; 
nor  dared  I  propose  any  such  plan  to  one  of 
my  company ;  for  there  is  in  the  mind  of  these 
people,  in  the  whole  catalogue  of  crimes  none  more 
hated  and  despised  than  an  offense  against  hospi- 
tality. Lying  awake  long  into  the  night,  ponder- 
ing upon  the  probable  consequences  which  this 
untoward  discovery  might  have  upon  the  future  of 
the  Jews  and  my  own  mission,  1  at  last  consoled 
myself  with  the  reflection — the  most  delusive  per- 
haps in  all  my  career — that  such  an  insignificant 
remnant  of  former  glory  and  power  would  shrivel 
from  its  trivial  proportion  into  nothingness  and 
be  swallowed  up  and  lost  amidst  the  huge  calami- 


86  BEN  BEOE. 

ties  now  striding  rampant  over  all  Palestine.  Who 
could  have  surmised  that  in  such  an  insignificant 
dwelling,  under  this  frail  roof,  the  seed  was  being 
planted  that  would  grow  and  ripen,  through 
which  the  fall  of  the  temple  and  the  cruel  disper- 
sion of  the  Hebrews  should  become  but  links  in  the 
great  chain  whereby  ultimately  would  be  spanned 
the  whole  religious  world  ?  And  yet,  history  has  so 
proved  ill  At  last,  after  long  hours,  I  fell  into 
a  short,  troubled  sleep,  to  be  awakened  at  day- 
break, when  we  started  on  our  further  travel 
towards  the  imperial  city.  After  many  eventless 
days  had  passed  we  saw  at  last,  far  away,  the 
domes  and  spires  of  our  destination.  Here  we  met 
Titus,  the  victorious  conqueror  of  the  East,  returning 
home  with  his  all-successful  army  and  the  spoils 
and  captives  of  a  hundred  battles.  It  was  a  spec- 
tacle baffling  description.  A  triumphal  entry  of 
troops  into  the  Eternal  City  soon  took  place. 

First  came,  in  wild  and  fantastic  procession, 
mounted  on  the  swift  horses  of  Arabia,  the  finely 
formed  Bedouins,  in  charge  of  an  apparently  end- 
less train  of  cages,  containing  the  most  splendid  and 
select  specimens  of  all  the  brute  creation  to  be 
found  in  the  Saharan  and  Nubian  deserts  and 
the  jungles  of  Asia  and  Africa.  Amidst  the  roar, 
the  howl  and  piercing  noise  of  these  sounded  forth 
the  shrill  tones  of  the  reed-pipes  of  trainers,  an- 
swered, as  it  were,  by  the  numerous  and  various 
voices  of  feathered  tribes,  the  birds  forming  a 
rainbow  of  colors  as  they  hopped  and  frisked  to  and 
fro  in  their  finely  braided  metallic  houses  on  top  of 
the  cages  of  the  quadrupeds.  Neither  gold,  labor 
nor  cunning  had  been  spared  to  collect  this  match- 
less menagerie,  destined  for  the  museums  and  the 
gladiatorial  arena  of  the  capital.  Then  came  a 
troop  of  hunters,  seated  on  small  but  wiry  ponies. 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  87 

All  the  riders  head  silver  bugles,  and  the  wild  blasts 
from  a  thousand  instruments  sounding  forth  were 
heard  for  miles.  Next  paraded  the  Teutonic  cohorts, 
men  broad-chested  and  tall  like  giants,  their  blonde 
hair  forming  a  strange  contrast  with  their  sunburnt 
skins.  For  miles  and  miles  away  stretched  the 
line,  borne  upon,  the  clumsy,  heavy-maned  horses 
of  the  North.  Then  followed,  in  brilliant  array  of 
well-polished  steel  breast-shields  and  helmets,  the 
Egyptian  and  Macedonian  charioteers,  their  ani- 
mals drawing  the  terror-inspiring  engines  of  war ; 
they  were  divided  in  separate  columns,  each  of 
which  was  headed  by  a  band  of  trumpeters,  leading 
with  the  blare  of  their  instruments  the  dance-like 
march  of  this  part  of  the  army.  Now  followed  a 
section  of  the  imperial  body-guards,  caparisoned 
most  gorgeously,  their  crimson-velvet  cloaks  falling 
in  graceful  folds  over  their  feet  as  they  appeared 
like  statues  upon  fiery  chargers.  Their  large  brows, 
aquiline  noses,  brilliant  eyes  and  haughty  mien  de- 
clared in  every  feature  the  proud  .Romans.  Each 
one  had  a  battle-ax  fastened  to  the  pommel  of  his 
gold-embroidered  saddle,  and  bore  a  halberd  in  his 
right  hand.  These  were  succeeded  by  the  most 
wonderful  train  of  artistic  representations  of  the 
carver,  chiseler  and  painter ;  rich  combinations  of 
costly  woods,  ivory,  silver  and  gold  in  every  im- 
aginable form  and  size,  representing  the  historical 
occurrences  of  the  East,  delineating  the  wars,  vic- 
tories and  triumphs  of  Rome.  Between  each  sec- 
tion of  these  trophied  reminiscences,  singers  and 
musicians  vied  with  each  other,  telling  in  verse 
and  rhythm  the  story  of  their  glory. 

These  passed,  and  then  came  in  seemingly  end- 
less array  the  treasure-laden  vehicles,  carrying  the 
spoils  of  war ;  elephants  and  camels  in  charge  of 
dusky  Moors  brilliantly  arrayed,  bearing  priceless 


88  BEN  BEOR. 

gems  of  despoiled  nations.  The  last  of  the  wagons 
contained  the  golden  vessels,  solid  shew-table,  seven- 
armed  candlestick,  and  the  glistening  "  Tablets 
of  the  Law" — immense  geological  specimens  of 
diamond-like  lustrous  double  plates,  in  which  were 
cut,  as  it  is  said  "  by  the  finger  of  the  Lord," 
from  one  side  to  the  other,  the  letters  forming  the 
world-renowned  Decalogue ;  through  the  quaint 
openings  of  which  the  morning  sun  played  with  a 
wreath  of  rays,  crowning  them  with  a  shield  of 
colors  and  light  of  inexpressible  beauty  and  mag- 
nificence. If  I  could  but  have  laid  my  hands  for 
eternal  destruction  upon  this  one  all-peerless  pos- 
session !  At  the  sight  of  it  I  felt  sick  at  heart, 
and  inwardly  vowed  that  if  it  came  within  the 
reach  of  possibilities  I  would,  at  some  near  time  and 
at  any  risk,  get  hold  of  this  concentrated  essence  of 
Mosaic  wisdom,  the  foundation  of  Jewish  legis- 
lation, and  utterly  destroy  it.  While  such  burning 
thoughts  were  yet  astir  in  my  covetous  bosom  this 
pageant  had  passed.  Another  appeared,  coming  as 
if  to  create  the  most  marked  contrast  with  all  the 
splendor  and  wealth  of  the  previous  procession. 
Upon  a  rude  platform,  drawn  by  four  sturdy  mules, 
guarded  on  each  side  by  a  detachment  of  swarthy 
spearsmen,  loaded  down  in  chains,  with  a  rope 
around  his  massive  neck,  cowered  the  gigantic  form 
of  the  most  illustrious  among  the  Hebrew  captives, 
the  renowned  hero  of  the  siege  of  Jerusalem — one 
who  had  been  a  terrible  host  in  himself  against 
the  invaders — the  dreaded  Simon  bar  Giora.  Ac- 
cording to  the  irrevocable  rite  of  Roman  Triumphals 
he  is  the  chosen  sacrifice.  The  sad  strains  of  a  dead- 
march  from  a  powerful  band  of  brass  instruments 
rend  the  air  as  he  passes  out  of  sight.  Silver 
trumpets,  however,  take  up  the  mournful  chords 
and  change  them  with  wonderful  transposition  into 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  89 

jubilant  fanfares.  Next,  two  brilliantly  arrayed 
open  coaches,  each  drawn  by  four  horses,  make 
their  appearance.  One  contains  the  young  emperor's 
favorite,  his  Hebrew  ally,  the  historian  Flavius 
Josephus,  with  three  of  his  intimate  friends  and  rela- 
tives by  his  side ;  the  other  is  occupied  by  the  pusil- 
lanimous Jewish  courtier-prince,  Agrippa,  brother 
of  the  royal  Berenice.  Then  cantered  into  sight, 
preceded  and  followed  by  a  line  of  chosen  body- 
guards, the  young  emperor  Titus,  riding  a  coal- 
black  charger,  and  on  a  milk-white  steed  at  his 
side  the  queenly  daughter  of  Judea,  the  matchless 
princess  Berenice.  Far  behind  them  loomed  up 
the  endless  native  and  foreign  legions,  guarding 
between  them  the  unfortunate  Jewish  captives, 
men,  women  and  children,  loaded  with  chains,  most 
pitiful  to  behold  in  their  despair  and  misery,  com- 
puted to  have  exceeded  one  hundred  thousand  per- 
sons. 

Finally  came  the  rabble  and  the  usual  hangers- 
on  of  an  army  returning  victorious  from  a  foreign 
land.  All  this  vast  multitude  now  arrived  on  the 
plain,  stretching  picturesquely  away  to  where 
stood  the  temple  of  isis.  "With  the  words  of  com- 
mand by  superior  officers,  as  if  by  magic,  pres- 
ently an  orderly,  well-planned  encampment  dis- 
closed itself.  The  imperial  pair,  as  they  passed  us, 
sent  one  of  their  servants,  bidding  my  officer  to  fall 
in  line  behind  them.  As  they  dismounted  and 
ascended  the  stairs  to  the  holy  dais,  they  were  greeted 
by  the  father-emperor  Vespasian  and  his  younger 
son  Domitian,  the  senate  and  the  venerable  priests 
of  the  goddess.  Then  sire  and  son  met  in  most  affec- 
tionate embrace.  Such  a  shout  of  joy  and  exultation 
arose  from  the  soldiers  and  the  assembled  people  as 
was  never  before  heard  by  mortal  ears.  I  had 
remained  at  the  foot  of  the  extensive  platform  and 


90  BEN  BEOR. 

from  there  could  see,  hear  and  watch  the  en- 
suing solemn  ceremonies  and  usages  preceding 
always  the  triumphal  entry  of  an  emperor  into  the 
Eternal  City.  But  amidst  all  these  pompous  ob- 
servances, the  magnificent  music,  the  galaxy  of 
vestals,  the  priests  in  their  silver-brocaded  robes 
with  the  sacred  paraphernalia,  the  orations  and 
prayers  attending  the  auspicious  festivities  of  the 
day,  my  eyes  were  fixed  solely  upon  one  object,  the 
queenly  and  exceedingly  beautiful  woman  who 
stood  between  the  two  sons  of  the  old  emperor 
Yespasian,  the  Jewess  matchless  in  grace  and  dig- 
nity. Wavy  hair,  raven  black,  held  together  on  the 
finely  poised  head  by  a  tiara  of  gold  studded  with 
glittering  sapphires  and  diamonds ;  lustrous,  large 
eyes  fringed  with  long  lashes  and  laughing  with 
fire  and  brilliancy ;  finely-traced  lines  of  an  aquiline 
nose,  coraline  lips,  round  chin,  fully-developed  bust, 
showing  like  alabaster  from  the  neck  down  to  where 
priceless  lace  covered  the  swelling  bosom  ;  a  figure 
grand  and  majestic,  draped  in  a  wealth  of  silk  and 
velvets;  silver  sandals  disclosing  abnormally  small 
feet,  hands  exquisitely  white  and  moulded  as  if  by 
a  master-sculptor,  sparkling  with  an  untold  wealth 
of  priceless  gems — such  was  the  princess  Berenice. 
No  wonder  the  ardent  Titus,  fascinated  by  all  this 
loveliness  and  beauty,  had  pledged  his  troth  to  her, 
by  which,  on  his  ascension  to  the  throne,  she  was 
to  share  the  sovereignty  of  the  civilized  world. 

Amidst  all  the  jubilation  I,  keenly  watching, 
noticed  the  old  emperor  and  his  youngest  son  re- 
peatedly cast  malignant  glances  at  the  beautiful 
object  of  my  feverish  attention. 

The  imperial  party  at  last  entered  their  circular 
golden  carriage,  and  the  procession  took  up  its 
march  along  the  Via  Sacra. 

Lost  in  strange  speculations  concerning  Merris, 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  91 

my  Egyptian   ideal,  re-embodied   in   the  radiant, 

florious  Hebrew  woman,  I  was  suddenly  awakened 
y  a  mounted  guard  approaching  my  conveyance. 
Unrolling  a  large  scroll  bearing  the  imperial  seal, 
he  conveyed  to  me  the  message  that  it  had  pleased 
the  young  emperor  to  honor  me  with  the  high  com- 
mission of  proceeding  forthwith,  in  advance  of  the 
procession,  to  the  Capitoline  hill  with  the  doomed 
captive  Simon  bar  Giora,  and  proclaiming  to  him 
the  sentence  of  death,  see  him  scourged  according 
to  the  prescribed  rites,  and  thrown  down  the 
declivity  unto  destruction.  This  done,  to  bring  the 
news  to  the  waiting  emperors  and  populace.  For 
this  purpose  I  was  now  comfortably  placed  on 
the  platform  beside  the  prisoner,  and  saluting  him 
with  the  well-known  greeting  of  "Salam  alichum," 
by  which  he  took  me  to  be  a  compatriot,  and  having 
smilingly  responded  with  the  usual  "  Aliehnm 
Salam,"  we  rode  together  the  long  distance  to  the 
hill.  Conversing  with  him  cordially  in  the  Hebrew 
language,  I  soon  succeeded  in  gaining  his  confidence 
and  in  extracting  from  him  the  story  of  his  event- 
ful life. 


PHANTASMAGORIA  III. 


SIMON    BAR    GIOKA. 

During  the  last  days  of  my  stay  near  Jerusalem, 
while  the  appalling  struggle  raged  over  Palestine,  I 
had  heard  much  of  the  noble  character  of  the 
doomed  prisoner.  I  now  sought  to  obtain  the  true 
facts  concerning  the  life  and  deeds  of  this  hapless 
Simon  bar  Giora,  and  here  they  are  as  told  me 
by  himself.  He  said : 

"  Born  and  bred  at  Gerasa  in  Palestine,  among 


92  BEN  BEOB 

the  shepherds  who  roamed  with  their  cattle  and 
flocks  over  the  wide  hills  and  vales  which  surround 
this  ancient  city  of  East  Arabia,  at  an  early  age  I 
imbibed  from  this  class  the  rude  spirit  of  inde- 
pendence and  rugged  freedom.  I  soon  exercised  a 
kind  of  leadership  among  my  companions.  When 
the  war  with  the  Romans  broke  out  and  news 
reached  us  how  sorely  our  people  were  pressed  by 
the  invader,  a  large  number  of  us  resolved  to  go  to 
their  aid.  Leaving  our  herds  in  charge  of  the  old 
men,  about  ten  thousand  of  us  gathered,  and  having 
elected  me  their  chieftain,  an  army  was  organized. 

"  Treasures  flowed  in  upon  us  from  all  sides.  A 
large  number  of  slaves  were  held  by  the  people  in 
this  district.  These  by  proclamation  were  now 
freed  on  condition  that  they  would  join  our  troops. 
They  gladly  complied,  thereby  swelling  our  num- 
bers to  over  twenty  thousand.  With  the  assistance 
of  officers  and  lieutenants  appointed  by  me,  I  set 
to  work  day  and  night  to  train  our  men  in  the  use 
of  arms  and  the  strictest  discipline  of  soldiers. 

"By  good  fortune,  there  were  among  the  slaves, 
foreigners  who  had  been  sold  here  as  prisoners. 
These  old  veterans  were  familiar  with  tactics  and 
military  science.  Placing  my  troops,  ignorant  of 
such  requirements,  entirely  in  their  charge,  by  inces- 
sant work  they  were  soon  in  good  condition,  ready 
to  take  the  field.  I  had  thus  an  efficient  and  obedi- 
ent corps  of  soldiers,  as  brave  as  ever  assembled  for 
the  defense  of  homes,  altars  and  firesides.  Finding 
myself  then  at  the  head  of  such  an  immense  body 
of  faithful  and  well-drilled  men,  all  my  dormant 
powers  of  pride,  ambition  and  patriotism  were 
aroused  in  fiercest  strength,  and  I  vowed  to  myself 
that  I  would  liberate  my  people  of  Israel  ^  from 
their  enemies,  or  perish  in  the  attempt.  I  did  not 
know  the  fearful  task  I  had  undertaken. 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  93 

•Alas !  too  soon  did  I  learn  that  our  worst  ad- 
versaries were  not  the  foreign  invaders.  Among 
certain  ranks  of  other  troops  our  leaders  were 
arrayed  against  one  another  in  deathly  strifes  and 
contentions,  several  sects  and  clans  contending 
among  themselves  for  supreme  power.  Treason 
stalked  over  the  land,  and  selfish,  faint-hearted, 
pusillanimous  cowards  were  headed  by  Flavius 
Josephus.  He  might  have  stayed  the  downfall  of  the 
nation,  but  deserted  to  the  enemy,  and  for  prospec- 
tive favors  betrayed  the  secrets  of  our  strength  and 
the  points  of  our  weaknesses  to  his  newly  acquired 
friends.  Nay,  all  these  left  behind  in  their  accursed 
course,  secret  allies,  who  by  mutual  understanding 
sent  into  the  camp  of  the  enemy,  instead  of  deadly 
arrows,  papyrus-slips  which  contained  information 
of  every  move  planned  in  our  lines.  It  is  un- 
necessary to  enumerate  all  the  dangerous  exploits 
which  fell  to  my  share.  They  are  now  part  of  the 
history  of  our  unfortunate  nation.  One  phase  in 
my  trying  career  will  illustrate  the  cruel  difficulties 
and  unpardonable  repulses  which  I  suffered  at  the 
hands  of  some  would-be  leaders.  From  reports 
which  I  had  received  by  trusty  spies  I  knew  that 
concentrated  attacks  with  all  the  available  power 
of  the  Romans  would  shortly  be  made  upon  sorely 
harassed  Jerusalem.  I  thought  it  therefore  im- 
peratively necessary  to  leave  my  secure  stronghold 
in  the  citadel  of  Mesada  and  by  hurried  marches 
proceed  to  the  capital.  Arrived  there,  the  several 
parties  in  command,  although  raging  against  one 
another  like  bloodthirsty  tigers,  fearing  that  they 
might  lose  some  of  their  power,  united  in  refusing 
me  and  my  legions  admittance  to  the  city.  Nay, 
they  concocted  and  carried  out  the  plot  of  cap- 
turing my  wife,  whom  I  had  left  with  friends  at 
Mesada.  Speculating  upon  the  love  which  I  bore 


94  BEN  BEOR. 

her,  this  my  weak  spot  being  known  among  my 
adherents  and  foes,  a  deputation  was  sent  from 
the  city  with  the  message  that  we  must  immediately 
surrender  and  deliver  up  our  arms,  or,  refusing,  her 
life  and  that  of  her  attendants  should  pay  the  for- 
feit of  my  obstinacy.  This  made  me  furious !  In 
my  rage  I  raised  my  battle-ax  and  smote  their 
leader  to  death,  then  hacking  off  the  hands  of  the 
rest  I  sent  them  back,  vowing  that  if  but  a  hair  of 
the  head  of  my  spouse  or  that  of  any  of  her  friends 
were  touched  I  would  break  down  the  walls  of  the 
city,  and  spare  neither  age  nor  sex  until  I  should 
be  fully  avenged. 

u  The  sight  of  the  dead  leader  and  his  mutilated 
companions  quickly  changed  the  boisterous  rejoic- 
ings of  the  wily  commanders  over  their  victory 
upon  a  few  weak,  resistless  women,  into  bitter  la- 
mentations and  despair,  and  despite  the  remon- 
strances of  traitors,  hirelings  in  the  service  of  the 
foreign  besiegers,  the  captive  females  were  per- 
mitted to  depart  in  peace,  and  a  safety-guard  given 
to  securely  conduct  the  glad  prisoners  into  our 
encampment.  Never  again  did  these  scheming 
leaders  trifle  with  my  anger.  On  the  contrary,  it 
chanced  very  soon  thereafter  that  the  populace,  be- 
coming disgusted  with  and  mortally  afraid  of  their 
overbearing  and  tyrannical  military  rulers,  their 
high-priest  Matthias,  with  a  princely  escort,  issued 
forth  in  procession  from  the  Golden  Gate,  came  to 
my  tent  and  besought  me  to  follow  him  with  my 
soldiers  into  the  terribly  afflicted  city.  We  entered 
amidst  great  rejoicings  and  were  received  with 
open  arms  by  large  numbers. 

"  I  set  myself  to  work  without  delay  for  the  de- 
fense of  the  strongholds  and  the  reunion  of  the 
fierce  factions  who  tore  asunder  the  best  strength  of 
the  people.  In  this,  however,  I  was  continually 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  95 

thwarted  and  foiled  by  the  unceasing  machinations 
of  the  traitors,  who  would  gladly  have  welcomed 
Titus  and  his  troops  into  the  holy  tabernacle. 
When  the  Hebrews,  despite  their  dissensions,  showed 
themselves  so  bravely  determined  to  defend  their 
possessions  or  die  in  the  combat,  the  miserable 
renegades  who  fawned  and  flattered  around  our 
Roman  tormentors  betrayed  to  the  enemy  the  last 
secret  which  they  thus  far  had  inviolably  kept,  the 
subterranean  passageways  by  which  the  country 
folks  supplied  overpeopled  Jerusalem  with  food 
for  men  and  beasts.  These  tunnels  were,  after  the 
most  bloody  struggle  of  the  whole  war,  taken  pos- 
session of  by  our  assailants,  and  in  consequence 
thereof  fearful  and  abject  famine  fell  upon  us  all. 
We  could  have  fought  hosts  and  withstood  the  bat- 
tering rams,  but  hunger  and  the  terrible  sight  of  the 
starving  and  famishing  women  and  children  soon 
unmanned  the  strongest  and  the  bravest.  Such  was 
the  work  of  the  miscreant  Joseph  us  and  his  tribe  of 
renegades  who  stigmatized  rne  with  the  title  of  a 
tyrant.  Then  came  the  fire  which  consumed  the 
temple  and  the  city.  The  strongest  minds  lost 
heart.  God  seemed  to  have  everywhere  forsaken 
our  people.  His  hand  lay  crushingly  upon  us. 
Yet  I  did  not  even  then  despair.  Quickly  I  sum- 
moned together  my  followers.  We  made  our  way 
first  to  the  lower  chambers  of  the  temple.  Here 
we  supplied  ourselves  with  stonecutters'  tools, 
and  appropriated  from  the  magazines  such  stores 
of  food-sustenance  as  had  been  laid  up  for  times  of 
greatest  need.  I  led  the  way  to  a  subterranean 
passageway  yet  undiscovered  by  the  enemy,  calcu- 
lating that  we  might  cut  an  outlet  to  the  oppo- 
site side  of  the  temple  and  city,  and  from  new 
strongholds  renew  the  battles  for  our  national 
existence.  All  was  not  lost  if  this  plan  succeeded. 


96  BEN  BEOR. 

We  soon  reached  the  end  of  the  underground  exca- 
vations, and  then  the  men  set  to  work  to  quarry 
out  the  rest  of  the  way.  Our  provisions,  however, 
had  to  be  carefully  husbanded,  and  supplies  dis- 
tributed in  scant  measure.  The  nature  of  the 
rock  revealed  itself  at  an  early  date  to  be  beyond  our 
strength,  and,  to  .my  horror,  the  laborers,  utterly 
fatigued,  threw  down  their  tools  and  declared  that 
it  was  beyond  the  power  of  human  strength  and 
endurance  to  proceed  further  with  a  work  that 
showed  such  infinitesimal  results.  Hope,  faith  and 
the  last  vestige  of  enthusiasm  had  ebbed  away — I 
had  reached  the  end  of  my  resources.  I  determined 
upon  one  last  effort,  which  offered  but  the  faintest 
ground  for  success.  In  one  of  the  recesses  of  the 
lower  caverns  I  had  found  secreted  the  white  linen 
garments  and  the  velvet  purple  cloak  of  the  high- 
priest.  Attired  in  these,  I  proposed  to  appear  sud- 
denly among  the  superstitious  foreign  guards  who 
watched  over  the  ruins  of  the  holy  edifice.  My 
followers  were  to  keep  close  to  me,  and  when  they 
saw  the  scared  victors  take  to  flight,  fall  upon  them 
and  fight  their  way  out  of  the  city  to  places  of 
safety.  I  played  my  part  well.  As  I  emerged  so 
^suddenly  and  unexpectedly  from  out  of  the  earth, 
the  surprised  Romans  hastily  took  to  their  heels. 
Alas!  my  men,  discouraged  and  despairing,  had 
stayed  behind,  only  to  be  slaughtered  like  sheep, 
when  the  fugitives,  recovering  from  their  scare, 
seeing  that  no  one  followed,  returned  and  took  me 
prisoner. 

"  Yet  I  would  not  reveal  to  this  common 
rabble  who  their  captive  was,  but  demanded  the 
presence  of  their  commander.  He  was  sent  for 
immediately  and  came  in  great  haste.  I  recognized 
him  as  the  most  implacable  and  bloodthirsty  of 
any  tyrant  who  ever  bore  semblance  to  a  human 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  97 

being — the  thrice-accursed  murderer  and  villain, 
Kufus,  surnamed  by  the  Hebrews  4  the  Terrible.'  1 
disclosed  to  him  my  name  and  defied  him  to  do  his 
worst.  I  was  stripped  of  my  priestly  vestments, 
leaving  me  barely  enough  of  dress  to  hide  my 
nakedness;  loaded  down  with  chains  and  thrown 
into  a  deep  and  dark  dungeon.  I  knew  well  what 
was  to  be  my  fate,  and  utterly  callous  of  what  was 
to  come,  resigned  myself  uncomplainingly  to  the 
future.  Thou  kuowest  the  rest." 

Here  he  stopped.  During  the  recital,  the  swarthy 
face  of  this  giant-like  person  was  suffused  with 
tears,  no  doubt  the  first  he  had  wept  since  his 
childhood.  By  this  time  we  had  arrived  at  our 
destination;  the  weary  team  came  to  a  halt, 
and  two  Hctors  in  readiness,  before  a  great  multi- 
tude, shoutingly  took  possession  of  the  unfortunate 
captive.  They  subjected  him  in  my  presence, 
bound  as  he  was  hand  and  foot,  to  the  most  cruel 
flagellation,  scourging  and  torments.  The  blood 
trickled  over  his  naked  back  and  chest,  but  not  a 
muscle  stirred ;  not  a  sign  of  pain  showed  itself  in 
mien  or  gesture  of  this  brave  soldier.  He  smiled 
contemptuously  through  it  all.  At'last,  when  they 
fancied  that  his  strength  had  succumbed  to  their 
torture,  the  two  officers  loosened  the  shackles  on 
his  arms,  previous  to  the  fearful  plunge  over  the 
precipice  which  was  soon  to  send  him  to  his  de- 
struction. Instantly,  when  he  felt  himself  thus 
partly  freed,  and  before  I  even  could  execute  my 
official  commission  to  read  to  him  the  death-war- 
rant, with  one  mighty  effort  he  grasped  his  tor- 
mentors, and,  crying  out  like  Samson  of  old,"  With 
mine  enemies  will  I  die  this  day  !  "  he  made  of  his 
own  accord  the  fearful  plunge  with  them  into 
eternity.  Not  a  sound  was  heard  but  the  thump- 
ing of  the  bodies  against  the  crags  and  rocks  as  the 


98  BEN  BEOR. 

dead  bodies  fell  to  the  never-explored  bottom. 
Long  before  I  reached  the  "Arch  Triumphal,"  in- 
scribed with  the  ominous  words,  "  Judea  capta," 
where  the  emperors  and  people  were  awaiting  my 
arrival,  the  shouts  of  the  masses  had  proclaimed  the 
final  consummation  of  the  death-sentence  on  their 
illustrious  victim.  The  imperial  procession  set  itself 
again  into  motion  towards  the  capitol,  for  the 
final  rites  of  the  glorious  Triumphal.  The  broad 
thoroughfare  over  which  our  march  now  proceeded 
was  a  blaze  of  most  costly  and  tasteful  decorations ; 
all  balustrades  and  windows  were  ornamented  with 
flags,  pennons  and  patriotic  designs  of  the  richest 
material,  and  the  street,  inclusive  of  every  avail- 
able place  where  the  procession  could  be  seen,  was 
lined  with  men,  women  and  children  in  holiday 
attire.  They  shouted  themselves  hoarse  with  the 
ever-repeated  acclamations:  "Viva  Emperores^ 
viva  Titus;  deliciae  humani  generis" 

I  was,  however,  much  astonished  at  the  many 
signs  of  public  disfavor  and  indignation  which 
were  manifested  towards  Berenice.  Frequently 
some  group,  more  bold  and  aggressive  than  their 
companions,  would  point  their  lingers  at  her,  and, 
just  loud  enough  to  be  heard,  cynically  and  sarcas- 
tically drawl  out  the  words  of  a  double  meaning, 
"Judea  capta,"  which  meant  here  unmistakably 
"  the  Jewess  captured."  All  this  must  have  been 
very  distressing  to  her,  and,  being  in  close  prox- 
imity, I  saw,  even  while  she  smiled  defiance  at  her 
tormentors,  tears  standing  in  her  beautiful  eyes.  At 
last  we  reached  the  capitol.  Here  the  sacerdotal 
ceremonies  were  completed.  The  emperors  seated 
themselves  in  the  celebrated  throne-chairs  of  ivory 
and  gold.  While  the  priests  passed  before  them 
into  the  temple  of  Jupiter,  where  they  brought  the 
sacrifices  of  a  thousand  oxen ;  the  orators,  poets  and 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  99 

singers  recited  their  heroes'  deeds  of  valor  and 
glory.  The  sun  set  in  unspeakable  beauty  and 
grandeur  beyond  the  flaming  Apenninian  hills, 
when  the  two  emperors  rose,  prayerfully  invoked 
the  blessing  of  the  gods  upon  all  their  subjects,  and 
finally  withdrew  to  the  night's  banquets  and 
revelry  in  their  palaces. 

Immediately  thereafter  the  immense  crowd  dis- 
persed; those  exhausted  from  the  fatigues  of  the 
long  day  wending  their  way  homeward ;  others  who 
had  saved  their  strength,  or  were  naturally  able  to 
undergo  more  physical  strain,  to  the  festivities 
which  had  been  provided  at  public  expense  in  every 
quarter  of  the  city,  or  repairing  to  the  theatres  and 
numerous  shows.  These  costly  celebrations  con- 
tinued for  three  days,  officials  vieing  with  private 
parties  to  make  this  one  of  the  most  memorable 
events  in  the  annals  of  Eome. 


PHAISTTASMAGOBIA  IY. 


BETWEEN    SCYLLA    AND    CHAKYBDIS. 

There  had  been  assigned  to  me  and  my  servitors 
most  comfortable  and  princely  quarters  near 
the  Quirinal  palace.  Here  I  remained  in  retire- 
ment for  several  days,  partly  to  recuperate  from 
the  fatigues  of  the  previous  long  journey  and 
the  excitement  attending  the  "  Triumphal,"  and 
partly  for  the  purpose  of  undergoing  medical  treat- 
ment, which  soon  restored  my  health  and  removed 
every  vestige  which  the  casualties  of  the  fire  at 
the  Temple  had  left  upon  my  body.  Not  a 
trace,  not  a  mark  remained  by  which  I  could  be 
reminded  of  the  severe  injuries  I  had  sustained, 


100  BEN  BEOK. 

but,  on  the  contrary,  the  repeated  soothing  oint- 
ments and  the  powerful  restorative  baths  caused 
my  whole  frame  to  glow  with  health  and  my 
appearance  to  become  youthful. 

Congratulating  myself  upon  these  gratifying 
experiences,  I  soon  discovered  that  still  greater  sur- 
prises were  in  store  for  me. 

One  morning  I  found  a  mysterious  note  upon 
my  table,  inviting  me  urgently  to  an  early  and 
confidential  interview  with  the  princess  Berenice. 
\Vhat  could  this  woman  possibly  want  with  me? 
There  was  no  earthly  likelihood  that  she  had 
the  faintest  idea  of  my  blind  affection  for  her. 
While  pondering  over  this  unexpected  enigma, 
an  imperial  page  summoned  me  to  the  presence  of 
Vespasian. 

Here  was  a  dilemma  !  "Whom  should  I  see  first  ? 
Following  my  individual  inclination,  I  appointed 
the  time  for  an  audience  with  the  great  monarch  at 
a  later  hour  and  dismissed  the  messenger, 

After  careful  preparations  as  to  my  personal 
appearance,!  repaired  immediately  to  the  residence 
of  the  lady.  Here  I  must  have  been  expected,  for 
I  was  shown  at  once  to  her  presence.  As  I  entered 
I  saw  the  magnificent  splendor  of  the  royal  cham- 
bers, in  all  more  like  a  dream  than  a  reality.  He- 
posing  upon  one  of  those  peculiar  Eastern  couches 
which  seemed  to  form  a  rich  frame  to  a  celestial 
portrait,  pensive  and  sad  as  if  just  awakening  from 
deeply  troublesome  reflections,  was  the  lovely  Bere- 
nice. I  knelt  before  her,  and  raising  the  hand 
which  hung  languidly  by  her  side,  I  kissed  the  rose- 
ate tips  of  her  fingers.  Never  will  I  forget  the 
rapture  which  thrilled  me  as  my  lips  came  for  one 
glorious  moment  into  this  slight  carnal  contact 
with  the  to  me  angelic  being. 

She  smilingly  bade  me  welcome  and  motioned 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.       ^;  ^,0i 

me  to  a  seat.  Then  she  spoke :  "  Be  not  aston- 
ished that  i  have  called  thee  to  me.  From  the 
zeal  and  devotion  which  thou  hast  shown  to  thy 
superiors  in  the  hour  of  great  peril  and  at  risk  of 
thy  life,  I  have  been  filled  with  the  utmost  confi- 
dence in  thy  fidelity  and  strength  of  character. 
And  now  that  I  need  a  trusty  agent  on  a  very  im- 
portant and  difficult  enterprise,  my  choice  naturally 
has  fallen  upon  one  whom  I  have  found  to  be  most 
reliable.  It  now  depends  upon  thee  to  decide 
whether  thou  wilt  accept  the  post  for  which  I  have 
singled  thee  out." 

"  Speak,  adored  being !  "  I  replied,  "  and  all  my 
life,  every  thought  of  my  soul  and  every  pulsation 
of  my  heart  shall  be  devoted  to  thy  behests ! " 

She  appeared  somewhat  astonished  at  the  warmth 
of  rny  language,  but  with  one  of  those  bewitch- 
ing glances  which  Hebrew  women  know  how  to 
employ  when  they  wish  to  fasten  their  influence 
upon  a  man,  she  continued:  "It  is  well  known 
throughout  all  Rome  that  our  young  emperor  in 
his  great  affection  has  pledged  me  his  troth,  and 
as  soon  as  he  ascends  his  father's  throne  will  make 
me  his  wedded  wife.  Yet  reasons  which  I  well 
understand  and  which,  as  I  believe,  consist  partly 
in  the  hatred  against  my  valiant  but  unfortunate 
race — their  conquest  having  cost  so  many  precious 
lives  and  countless  treasure — have  caused  father, 
brother  and  friends  to  look  upon  the  foreign  favor- 
ite with  antipathy  and  displeasure.  On  that  ac- 
count I  am  greatly  afraid  of  obstacles  which  might 
be  thrown  in  the  way  of  the  final  consummation  of 
our  connubial  union.  I  believe  that  with  judicious 
management  and  carefully  arranged  measures  all 
these  great  difficulties  can  be  overcome.  My  be- 
trothed will  and  can  best  manage  the  obstinacy  of 
his  family.  Occasion  may  offer,  too,  by  which  a 


J.02  BEN  BEOR. 

confidential  friend,  one  like  thee,  whom  I  have 
selected  for  this  purpose,  might  aid  his  efforts.  But 
thy  service  is  needed  mainly  to  pacify  the  people 
and,  if  possible,  change  their  dislike  of  me  into 
genuine  love  and  confidence.  They  owe  me  a  great 
debt  of  gratitude,  for  it  has  been  my  sole  aim  and 
object,  since  I  have  been  betrothed  to  the  prince,  to 
so  influence  and  modify  the  harsh  and  brutal  ten- 
dencies of  his  character  as  to  change  them  into 
noble,  good  and  lovable  traits.  I  have  no  doubt 
when  the  time  comes  that  he  shall  wield  the  sceptre 
of  the  world,  he  will  more  than  deserve  the  flatter- 
ing name  already  bestowed  upon  him,  <  The  Delight 
of  Humanity.'  Thou  mayest  help  me  in  my  great 
emergency.  Eternal  friendship,  with  any  other 
favor  in  my  power  which  thou  mayest  ask,  shall  be 
thy  reward." 

She  held  out  her  hand  to  me  in  the  depth  of  her 
feeling,  and  as  a  token  of  my  assent  to  her  wishes, 
as  is  the  usage  of  Oriental  people,  I  was  to  gently 
bring  it  to  my  lips  -and  bow  myself  to  the  earth. 
Instead  of  this  I,  however,  grasped  it  vehemently 
and  impressed  upon  it  most  passionate,  ardent 
kisses.  Then  on  my  knees  I  vowed  the  most 
faithful  and  devoted  service  and  attachment,  plac- 
ing my  whole  life  and  being  at  her  command. 

"  Spare  neither  efforts  nor  treasures  in  this  task," 
she  cried  out.  "  My  wealth  is  inexhaustible ;  in  my 
name  bestow  it  in  charity  and  relief  wherever  it 
may  be  needed.  Assure  all  the  people  that  it  is 
my  anxiety  and  highest  aim  to  make  them  prosper- 
ous, happy  and  content.  Men  must  be  of  stone 
if  they  will  withstand  such  kindness  and  good-will. 
Go,  my  friend,  and  report  to  me  from  time  to  time 
the  progress  made  in  this  undertaking,  and  may 
Divine  Providence  prosper  and  speed  thee  !  " 

With  these  words  I  was  dismissed. 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA  103 

Laboring  under  the  most  conflicting  emotions, 
I  reached  my  home.  I  threw  myself  wearily 
upon  my  couch.  Was  I  then  to  become  the 
veritable  instrument  by  which  this  union,  so  repug- 
nant to  me,  should  be  consummated?  Was  I  to  be 
the  means  by  which  this  man,  whom  I  so  jealously 
hated,  should  rob  me  of  her  whom  I  madly  adored  3 
Never ! — no,  never !  And  yet  I  had  most  solemnly 
promised — had  made  myself  an  abject  slave  in.  her 
service,  and  for  this  very  object.  Haps  at  my 
door  brought  me  to  a  repression  of  my  feelings.  A 
servant  announced  that  the  hour  for  the  audience 
with  the  old  emperor  was  at  hand ;  so  I  proceeded 
to  the  palace.  Ushered  into  the  presence  of  the 
mighty  Vespasian,  I  found  him  alone,  pacing  up 
and  down  the  stately  hall.  He  seemed  to  be  greatly 
agitated,  and  did  not  notice  me  on  entering.  At 
last  he  saw  me,  and  smilingly  approaching,  spoke  : 
"  So  thou  hast  come  2  Sit  here  by  me  and  listen 
to  what  I  have  to  communicate  to  thee."  He  himself 
wheeled  some  chairs  to  the  centre  of  the  apart- 
ment, and  occupying  one,  pointed  me  to  the  other. 
Hesitating  to  accept  a  condescension  which  at  this 
all-powerful  court  is  of  the  very  highest  favor,  he 
impatiently  motioned  me  to  the  seat. 

Then  he  said  :  "  The  relations  which  I  desire  to 
establish  now  between  us  will  be  of  the  most  con- 
fidential and  friendly  nature,  and  whenever  we 
meet  alone,  as  often  no  doubt  we  shall,  let  all 
needless  formalities  cease.  My  august  son  has 
informed  me  of  thy  fidelity,  unselfishness,  and 
dauntless  courage  in  the  face  of  death.  I  need  now 
the  services  of  an  upright  confederate  in  a  very  diffi- 
cult and  greatly  important  affair.  For  this  I  have 
selected  thee,  and  if  thou  consent,  matters  of  state 
will  be  entrusted  to  thy  care,  the  successful  solu- 
tion of  which  will  entitle  thee  to  my  lasting  grati- 


104  BEN  BEOR. 

tude.  All  the  world  knows  of  the  tender  relations 
existing  between  my  son  Titus  and  that  wily 
Hebrew  woman  Berenice.  I  have  reliable  infor- 
mation that,  infatuated  as  he  is  with  her,  it  was 
mutually  understood  between  them  that  on  his 
coming  to  my  throne  he  will  formally  make  her 
empress.  This  must  never  be!  No  offspring  of 
the  hated  Semitic  race  shall,  with  my  consent, 
hold  such  an  elevated  station  among  the  proudest 
lineage  of  the  very  gods.  True,  I  might  interpose 
my  imperative  command  as  parent  and  emperor 
and  forbid  the  obnoxious  misalliance.  But  for 
reasons  delicate  yet  powerful  I  prefer  not  to  avail 
myself  of  this  prerogative,  especially  as  there  are 
other  equally  potent  means  by  which  my  object 
may  be  achieved.  The  Koman  people  are  already 
indignant  that  this  foreign  female  dare  raise  her 
haughty  eyes  to  the  crown  of  the  Caesars.  Let  this 
aversion  be  stimulated  and  extended.  While  my 
son  might,  with  the  characteristic  traits  of  our 
family,  defy  paternal  authority,  yet  he  will  bend 
before  the  force  of  public  indignation.  Be  thou 
the  instrument  to  carry  out  this  my  cherished 
plan.  Achieve  it,  and  there  shall  be  no  honor  or 
favor  in  my  gift  which  thou  mayest  not  ask  and 
receive." 

Even  while  he  was  speaking,  thoughts,  like 
flashes  of  lightning,  crossed  my  brain,  as  to  the 
policy  which  I  was  to  pursue  between  the  two  high 
patrons.  I  therefore  was  readily  prepared  to  make 
answer.  "  O,  Emperor,"  I  proceeded  to  say,  "  the 
task  assigned  to  me,  complimentary  and  flattering 
as  it  must  be  to  my  modest  abilities  and  integrity, 
is  at  once  arduous  and  expensive,  requiring  for  its 
successful  execution  thy  fullest  confidence  and 
unstinted  treasures.  But,  most  of  all,  it  seems 
requisite  to  me  that  even  the  slightest  appearance 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  105 

of  an  intrigue  between  us  should  be  avoided. 
This  scarcely  could  be  done  were  it  noticed  that 
the  emperor  had  frequent  intercourse  with  his 
humble  subject.  Communications,  for  this  reason, 
ought  to  be  strictly  secret;  should  be  made  in 
writing,  and  transmitted  by  an  unsuspected  party. 
Will  my  gracious  sovereign  approve  of  these  my 
views  in  accepting  my  services  ?  I  think  I  shall 
be  able  to  carry  out  in  reasonable  length  of  time 
the  desired  mission.  Make  it,  therefore,  thy 
pleasure,  sire,  to  find  ways  and  means  by  which 
we  may  unobtrusively  communicate  together, 
whereby  we  silently,  but  effectually,  shall  attain 
our  object."  "  Be  it  so,  my  valued  friend,"  re- 
sponded the  emperor,  "  and  whatever  wealth  or 
influence  thou  mayest  require  shall  be  at  thy  com- 
mand. The  details  concerning  our  intercommun- 
ion will  be  imparted  to  thee  as  soon  as  I  shall  have 
time  to  perfect  the  same.  And  be  once  again 
assured,  on  the  day  when  the  hated  woman  leaves 
Rome  forever,  thy  fortune,  as  far  as  I  can  build  it, 
shall  be  made."  Then  we  parted. 

At  my  abode,  new  perplexities  awaited  my 
coming.  A  man,  covered  in  cloak  and  hood 
so  as  not  to  be  recognizable,  was  walking  impa- 
tiently up  and  down  the  rooms.  As  soon  as  I 
entered  he  threw  off  his  disguise  and  approached 
me.  "  So  at  last  thou  hast  come ! — it  seemed  an 
eternity  while  I  waited  for  thy  return.  Never 
before  has  Titus  been  compelled  to  so  exercise 
patience.  But  deeming  it  of  first  importance  to 
meet  thee,  my  friend,  all  my  feelings  of  displeasure 
are  vanished  since  thou  art  here,  and  an  interview, 
upon  which  I  lay  great  importance,  may  be  had 
between  us.  Waive  all  ceremonial,  approach,  let 
us  be  seated,  and  then  come  without  delay  to  an 
understanding." 


106  BEN  BEOR. 

With  these  words  he  threw  himself  upon  a  couch 
and  motioned  me  to  take  a  seat  beside  him.  After 
making  humble  obeisance  I  did  as  bidden.  He 
spoke,  repressing,  as  could  be  easily  noticed,  for 
the  time  being,  the  real  object  of  his  presence. 

"  The  government  has  been  greatly  troubled," 
he  said,  "in  disposing  of  the  immense  number  of 
captives  which  we  have  brought  home  from  the 
wars.  Common  humanity  forbids  their  starvation, 
yet  their  support  will  prove  an  unbearable  expense 
to  the  state.  So  the  senate  has  this  day  resolved 
on  a  great  public  building,  the  Coliseum,  the  erec- 
tion of  which  has  long  been  planned,  and  in  the 
execution  of  this  our  Jewish  prisoners  will  be  used, 
thereby  earning  their  support.  Believing  that 
from  former  experiences  among  this  turbulent  ele- 
ment thou  knowest  well  and  understandest  their 
nature  and  character,  I  had  thee  appointed  chief 
superintendent  of  this  enterprise,  with  full  power  to 
act,  and  with  the  emoluments  due  to  such  respon- 
sible station.  Very  little  actual  work  is  expected, 
as  this  will  be  done  by  subordinates ;  but  there  is  a 
head  needed  for  the  undertaking.  This  office  is 
one  more  of  honor  than  of  labor.  I  deem  it  good 
fortune  to  be  the  first  bearer  of  this  pleasant  mes- 
sage, and  while  congratulating  thee,  my  friend, 
sincerely  on  this  distinguished  appointment,  would 
in  return  ask  some  kind  personal  service  which 
thou  canst  render  me." 

I  knew  from  the  expression  of  his  features  that 
the  real  object  of  his  presence  would  now  be  dis- 
closed. He  then  continued : 

"  Berenice,  my  betrothed,  has  informed  me  of 
the  interview  which  she  had  with  thee  this  day.  I 
approve  highly  of  its  tenor  and  join  w^armly  in  its 
object.  I  know  also  of  thy  audience  with  my  im- 
perial father,  and  can  readily  imagine  its  purport, 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  107 

and  the  perplexing  situation  in  which  a  loyal 
subject  is  placed  by  being  connected  with  such 
clashing  interests.  Now  that  thou  hast  been  made 
the  confidant  of  those  two  high  contracting  parties, 
a  solution  of  all  the  difficulties  may  be  reached  by 
taking  into  counsel  the  third  and  perhaps  most 
important  personage.  Believing  to  have  some 
strong  claim  to  thy  kind  consideration,  as  the 
whole  matter  concerns  but  me,  and  as  the  political 
cause  in  which  thou  art  so  peculiarly  enlisted 
might,  by  one  precipitate  action,  crumble  under 
thy  feet,  irretrievably  ruining  thee  and  compro- 
mising and  embarrassing  all  parties,  promise  me 
solemnly  and  on  thy  honor  that  thou  actually 
wilt  do  nothing  for  either  party,  while  apparently 
humoring  the  schemes  and  conceits  of  both.  In 
defense  of  this  questionable  attitude  in  which  my 
commands  place  thee,  let  me  express  my  well- 
matured  conviction  that  private  interests  of  so 
delicate  and  tender  a  nature  are  always  best  left  to 
their  own  development.  The  natural  course  of 
events  shapes  results  to  greatest  advantage  by 
the  non-interference  of  outside  agencies.  Trusting 
that  thou  wilt  understand  and  coincide  with  me, 
give  me  thy  hand  as  token  of  approval  and  accept- 
ance of  this  my  imperial  will  and  behest." 

This  was  indeed  relief  from  the  confounded 
position  in  which  I  had  been  so  unnaturally  forced. 
It  cut  the  "  Gordian  knot "  of  my  perplexities 
with  one  stroke.  I  therefore  readily  grasped  the 
proffered  hand,  vowing,  for  the  third  time  this  day, 
compliance  and  obedience  in  a  cause  so  near  to  my 
heart,  that  threatened  to  engulf  my  future  presence 
in  Rome  in  untold  difficulties. 

The  young  Caesar  departed  as  he  had  come,  in 
his  disguise,  unnoticed  and  undetected,  leaving  me 
relieved  from  my  awkward  engagements,  but  with 


108  BEN  BEOR. 

long  and  deep  reflections  upon  the  transitions  of 
mundane  affairs. 

I  must  add  here  that  I  found  no  difficulty  in 
readily  disposing  of  the  immense  sums  of  money 
trusted  to  ruy  keeping  at  the  hands  of  the  confiding 
woman,  and  that  it  took  no  additional  stimulus  to 
increase  the  hatred  and  aversion  of  the  populace 
against  her  and  her  ambitious  motives.  My  confi- 
dential relations  with  Yespasian,  Titus  and  Berenice 
remained  undisturbed. 


PHANTASMAGOKIA  Y. 

A   WOMAN    SPUKNED. 

The  official  work  which  the  appointment  as 
superintendent  of  public  works  demanded  of  me 
was  of  the  slightest  character,  making  my  position 
nearly  a  sinecure.  The  chief  labor  was  performed 
by  subordinates,  requiring  of  me  nothing  more 
than  occasionally  the  signing  of  my  name  to  the 
rolls.  I  had  therefore  all  the  leisure  which  my 
schemes  and  experiments  required.  Loaded  with 
favors  from  the  high  persons  who  thought  me 
actively  engaged  in  their  service,  I  virtually  did 
but  enough  to  keep  up  an  appearance  of  zeal  and 
industry  in  the  advancement  of  their  several  plots. 
But  I  remained  not  idle  concerning  my  own 
machinations. 

It  is  well  known  that  the  ancient  city  of  Eorne 
was  tunneled  by  subterranean  cloacae,  broad  road- 
ways arched  and  columned,  forming  an  under- 
ground town.  Here  and  there,  where  the  corners 
of  streets  met,  the  extensive  spaces  were  used  for 
large  squares,  which  no  doubt  had  been  designed 
by  the  architect  who  planned  these  catacomb-like 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  109 

vaults  for  some  public  object,  either  as  keeps  for 
prisoners,  or  magazines  where  to  preserve  large 
stores  of  provisions  in  times  of  war.  I  was  aware 
of  the  existence  of  these  structures,  and  soon  found 
out  that  the  "  domus " — such  is  the  name  of  the 
residences  of  the  patricians — in  which  I  dwelt  stood 
directly  over  one  of  these  squares.  There  I  very  soon 
assembled  some  of  the  roughest  elements  of  the 
lowest  strata  of  humanity  to  be  found  in  the  city. 
These,  by  the  glaring  red  light  of  pine-torches, 
worked  day  and  night  in  the  production  of  large 
quantities  of  the  as  yet  unknown  intoxicant.  As 
soon  as  ready,  I  used  it  first  for  some  physiological 
experiments  to  ascertain  its  effects  upon  the  differ- 
ent nationalities  congregated  in  our  cosmopolitan 
metropolis. 

I  tried  it  first  on  the  miserable  creatures  who 
produced  it.  They  were  mostly  natives  of  the 
immediate  Campagna.  Yile  and  brutal  as  their 
rearing  in  ignorance  and  vice  had  made  them,  when 
the  stimulating  fire  of  drink  coursed  through  their 
brains  and  blood  they  became  actually  ferocious. 
Such  reckless,  base  and  foolish  scenes  as  I  beheld 
among  them ;  such  cruel  selfishness  as  was  soon 
developed ;  such  swinish  passions  as  came  into  broad 
existence;  such  sanguinary  thirst  which  without 
restraint  agitated  the  whole  crew,  changed  human 
beings  into  demons.  To  all  appearances  amidst 
the  sharp  lights  and  shadows,  it  seemed  a  veritable 
pandemonium. 

Next  1  slyly  caused  its  use  among  the  Teutonic 
cohorts  who  were  gathered  in  and  around  the  city. 
They  did  not  take  kindly  to  it.  Having  brought 
with  them  from  the  German  lands  a  drink  of  their 
own,  they  ingeniously  brewed  this  here  from  bar- 
ley and  hops.  No  doubt  in  fermentation  it  devel- 
oped a  small  percentage  of  my  own  distillation. 


110  BEN   BEOK. 

They  frequently  used  this  exhilarating  beverage, 
which  they  boasted  that  their  god  "  Grambrinus " 
had  invented  for.  them,  and  proved  wary  against 
the  introduction  of  a  new  and  unknown  liquor. 
When,  however,  my  concoction  found  its  way  to 
the  stomachs  of  the  sturdy  sons  of  Teutonia,  it 
changed  their  whole  character.  From  cool,  lym- 
phatic, earnest,  deliberate  and  quiet  people,  brave 
in  the  extreme,  they  became  quarrelsome,  drowsy, 
sullen  and  indifferent  louts,  whom  neither  pleas- 
ure nor  danger  could  stir  from  their  lethargy.  The 
officers  who  were  acquainted  with  these  my  de- 
based victims  quickly  caused  a  medical  investiga- 
tion, thinking  that  a  new  and  dreadful  disease  had 
broken  out  among  their  soldiery. 

I  next  practised  among  the  Anglo-Saxons  and 
Celts,  who  had  been  brought  from  Britannia,  after 
its  conquest,  as  allies  of  the  Roman  army.  They 
readily  and  greedily  partook  of  the  potion,  and 
such  was  the  effect  upon  the  seduced  victims  as  to 
almost  reverse  all  the  noble  and  fine  qualities  in- 
herent in  their  nature.  From  genial,  jovial,  good- 
natured  and  fearless  companions,  they  became 
brawling,  boisterous  and  reckless  drunkards,  never 
satiated,  ever  craving  for  more,  losing  all  self-con- 
trol, all  self-respect,  at  times  blindly  combative, 
boisterously  furious  when  there  was  no  enemy,  then 
again  cowardly  whining  and  abjectly  demure, 
even  in  the  face  of  the  foe. 

My  attention  was  next  directed  to  the  native 
soldiers  of  this  sunny  land.  They  had  never  par- 
taken of  anything  stronger  than  the  compressed 
juice  of  their  grapes.  Generally  jovial,  proud,  self- 
contained  and  confiding  to  a  fault,  alter  the  first 
taste  of  the  intoxicating  fire-water  they  soon  be- 
came utterly  unmanned  and  disorganized,  maud- 
lin and  whimsical,  momentarily  changing  from 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  Ill 

one  extreme  of  passion  to  the  other,  exhibiting 
themselves  through  the  whole  scale  of  meanness, 
depravity  and  abandon,  no  traces  of  which  could 
previously  be  found  in  their  mental  composition. 
The  use  of  the  debasing  liquid  spread  rapidly 
through  all  classes  and  grades  of  society.  Dram- 
shops sprang  up  in  every  nook  and  corner  of  the 
seven  hills,  with  such  fearful  effect  as  to  become  so 
notorious  and  widespread  that  the  authorities  felt 
called  upon  to  use  stringent  and  powerful  meas- 
ures for  their  suppression.  Vain  efforts  forever!  to 
try  chaining  the  devil  when  he  has  once  broken  his 
bonds. 

The  last  of  these  hellish  experiments  I  had  re- 
served for  the  captive  Jews,  now  working  and 
groaning  under  my  direct  and  uncompromising 
tyranny,  on  the  walls  of  the  Coliseum.  What 
kept  up  their  hope  and  courage  under  the  most  ex- 
hausting and  trying  travail  was  impossible  to  un- 
derstand. Still  they  toiled  and  labored,  mumbling 
in  faint  but  ever  sad  melody  the  words  of  a  song 
commencing : 

"  By  the  waters  of  Babylon, 
We  hung  our  harps  and  wept." 

Here  I  had  promised  myself  the  richest  and  most 
prolific  harvest.  Why  should  not  these  desperately 
goaded  slaves  readily  avail  themselves  of  the  freely 
proffered  means  of  sinking  all  their  trials,  hard- 
ships and  degradations  into  oblivion  by  imbibing 
the  luring,  sparkling  draught  that  came  to  them 
freely  and  without  expense?  But  to  my  utter 
amazement  they  would  have  none  of  it,  would 
not  tquch  the  tempting  cup.  A  law  of  theirs 
forbade  strictly  the  use  of  any  made  drink  not 
produced  by  their  own  hands.  Wine  of  their  vin- 
tage was  generally  used  only  for  sacred  purposes 


112  BEN  BEOR. 

or  on  festive  occasions,  for  marriage  feasts,  natal 
celebrations  and  public  rejoicings.  In  such  in- 
stances, the  language  of  their  wise  king,  Solomon, 
proved  true,  "  it  gladdens  the  heart."  With  the 
Jews,  unlike  any  other  race,  if  they  partook  of 
wine  to  excess,  the  effect  was  manifested  in  good- 
natured  wit,  singing  of  songs,  declaiming  of  rhap- 
sodical speeches,  and  finally  of  a  peaceful  departure 
for  home.  I  succeeded  in  making  a  few  recreants 
and  apostates  partake  of  my  nostrum.  Their 
vitals  being  unaccustomed  to  the  strength  of  this 
drink,  they  became  deathly  sick,  and  were  borne 
to  the  hospitals  amidst  the  jeers  and  derision  of 
their  co-religionists.  Then  I  had  recourse  to 
stratagem,  mixing  small  quantities  of  the  liquor 
with  their  food  ;  but  they  detected  its  taste,  and 
preferring  to  go  hungry,  would  not  partake  of  the 
obnoxious  meals.  Worst  of  all  I  fared  with  the 
members  of  a  new  sect,  the  Nazarenes.  With  a 
velocity  unparalleled  in  history,  they  had  increased 
from  a  comparatively  small  number  to  an  immense 
host.  Their  plain,  simple  and  modest  life  of  absti- 
nence and  morality  had  even  attracted  converts 
from  the  Latins,  and  it  had  become  necessary  for 
the  emperor  to  issue  an  edict  forbidding  the 
joining  of  their  church.  True  to  their  name  of 
Nazarenes,  which  means  "  Abstainers,"  it  was  one 
of  the  chief  articles  of  their  creed  never  to  drink 
aught  but  water.  These  wretches,  even  in  their 
humiliation  and  downfallen  abject  dependency, 
proved  equal  to  the  Jews  in  hampering  my  work 
and  resisting  its  progress. 

Meanwhile,  affairs  of  state  transpired  which 
materially  affected  my  career.  Vespasian  had 
suddenly  died.  Seeking  rest  from  labor  in  his  old 
age,  he  retired  to  the  Campagna.  Common  report 
declared  that  he  was  sudden!  v  seized  with  a  fatal 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  113 

malady.  Whispered  reports,  which  I  am  not  pre- 
pared to  confirm  or  contradict,  were  abroad  that 
he  was  in  the  way  of  his  two  sons  and  had  lived 
long  enough.  Titus  was  immediately  crowned  suc- 
cessor and  ascended  the  throne  of  his  father.  The 
coronation  ceremonial  over,  all  Rome  was  in  sul- 
len agitation,  fearing  his  marriage  to  the  detested 
Jewess.  My  surprise  was  intense  when,  three  days 
after  being  made  emperor,  I  was  summoned  to  the 
young  Caesar  and  received  at  his  hands  the  com- 
mission to  repair  to  the  abode  of  the  impatiently- 
waiting  Berenice,  with  the  irrevocable  imperial 
command  that  she  at  once  leave  Rome,  in  confirm- 
ation of  which  I  was  furnished  with  the  written 
edict  of  banishment  for  herself  and  brother,  Agrippa. 
Special  oral  instruction  directed  me  on  no  consid- 
eration to  permit  her  to  see  Titus. 

Never  before  had  I  witnessed  such  a  display  of 
woe,  despair,  wrath  and  anger  as  transpired  before 
my  eyes  upon  the  execution  of  my  cruel,  heartless 
errand.  At  first  she  refused  to  believe  until  I 
showed  her  the  mandate  with  the  great  seal  of 
state.  Then  she  appeared  stunned — her  breath 
came  hard  and  heavy,  but  she  did  not  faint,  her 
feelings  were  too  violent  for  this.  Making  ready 
in  haste,  she  cried  out :  "  I  will  see  the  traitor — the 
monster — face  to  face  ! "  When  I  explained  to 
her  now  that  the  emperor  on  no  condition 
would  have  any  further  communication  with  her, 
she  broke  out  in  passionate  weeping  and  sobbing. 
Then  she  turned  violently  upon  me  and  exclaimed  : 
"  Dastard  whom  I  had  nursed  as  a  devoted  friend, 
this  is  all  thy  consummate,  infernal  work  !"  I  fell 
on  my  knees  before  her,  vowing  by  all  in  heaven 
and  on  earth  that  I  had  been  but  the  instrument, 
selected  only  an  hour  before,  to  convey  the  hateful 
message.  I  implored  her  not  to  misjudge  my 


114  BEN  BEOR. 

devotion  and  fidelity  to  her  cause,  protesting  my 
utter  incapacity  to  even  in  thought  do  or  permit 
a  wrong  towards  one  so  good  and  beautiful.  .Rising 
to  my  feet,  I  continued  :  "  Listen,  lady — the  most 
wronged,  the  most  injured  who  ever  lived — listen 
to  my  words.  Thou  art  now  free  from  any  duty 
or  affection  for  one  who  has  spurned  thee.  All 
feelings  of  love  or  devotion  ought  to  be  changed  in 
thy  bosom  to  hatred  and  thirst  for  revenge.  Let 
me  avow  it  here — let  me  now  plead  in  my  own 
behalf.  Since  I  saw  thee  in  the  burning  ruins  of 
the  Lord's  temple,  I  have  loved,  worshipped,  adored 
thee!  Before  this  treachery  of  that  base  man 
transpired,  I  rather  would  have  died  than  own 
these  words  to  thee.  Give  me  thy  sympathy,  turn 
thy  royal  heart  and  hands  to  me,  and  thou  shalt 
have  the  most  terrible  and  exquisite  revenge  that 
ever  has  satiated  a  revolted  human  soul !  " 

She  stood  at  first  dazed,  as  if  unable  to  connect 
or  understand  these  words.  Then  their  meaning 
seemed  slowly  to  dawn  upon  her  comprehension. 
Presently  she  raised  herself  to  full  height,  and, 
like  a  roused  tigress,  threw  the  weight  of  her  whole 
power  upon  me.  With  the  nails  of  her  cramped 
fingers  she  tried  to  get  at  my  eyes,  screeching  so 
fiercely  that  it  must  have  sounded  near  and  far. 
In  her  spasmodic  strength  she  would  have  certakily 
thrown  me  to  the  floor  but  for  my  superhuman 
force,  by  which  I  hurled  her  from  me.  At  the 
entrance  of  aroused  servants,  amidst  a  great  noise 
and  commotion,  I  essayed  to  escape  and  reach 
safety  in  flight. 

The  unfortunate  woman  took  her  departure  that 
same  day  for  her  Palestinian  home;  but  she  never 
reached  it.  Her  disappointments,  sufferings  and 
trials  were  too  heavy  to  bear.  She  died  on  the 
road — no  doubt  of  a  broken  heart,  and  her  exiled 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  115 

brother  brought  an  unsightly  coffin  only  to  Jeru- 
salem, where  he,  too,  shortly  died,  unknown  and 
unwept,  both  finding  a  resting-place  in  the  tombs 
of  their  Maccabean  ancestors. 

Naturally,  the  report  which  I  made  to  the  mon- 
arch was  colored  in  my  favor,  raising  me  in  his 
opinion  and  esteem.  I  exhibited  myself  as  a 
martyr  to  the  ferocity  of  the  victim  who  was  sacri- 
ficed to  the  pride  and  prejudice  of  his  subjects.  As 
soon  as  the  sad  ending  of  the  love  affair  became 
publicly  known,  Titus  was  lauded  to  the  very 
skies.  Henceforth  lie  appeared  entirely  changed 
in  character  and  disposition.  From  a  profligate, 
careless  spendthrift,  and  an  easy-going,  wilful  and 
obstinate  despot,  he  now  became,  to  the  admiration 
of  the  world,  a  thoughtful,  earnest  and  patriotic 
ruler  and  statesman ;  concerned  exclusively  with 
the  welfare  of  his  realm,  constantly  engaged  in 
deeds  of  benevolence  and  acts  of  munificent  gener- 
osity. And  she,  the  Jewess  who  had  thus  influenced 
and  moulded  his  coarse  nature,  who  had  trans- 
formed the  very  grossness  and  brutality  of  his 
being — abandoned,  banished  and  dead,  a  very  epi- 
tome of  her  race  as  it  was  in  the  past,  and  as  it 
shall  become,  by  my  agency,  in  the  future.  True, 
often  when  I  came  into  the  young  emperor's  pres- 
ence, having  been  appointed  a  confidential  adviser, 
I  found  him  groaning  and  in  tears.  The  excruci- 
ating pangs  which  he  in  his  remorse  must  have 
suffered  in  the  solitude  of  his  apparently  never- 
ceasing  anguish,  made  his  private  life  an  eating 
cancer  on  his  heart  and  soul.  There  is  a  Jewish 
legend  concerning  him  that  perhaps  fully  illus- 
trates his  terrible  mental  condition.  It  says  that 
shortly  after  the  beginning  of  his  reign  a  gnat 
found  its  way  into  his  brain,  on  which  it  fed  until 
it  grew  in  proportions  to  the  size  of  a  dove,  and, 


116  BEN  BEOR. 

consuming  that  organ,  killed  him.  Alas!  this 
destructive  insect  is  but  a  symbol  of  the  bitter 
reproaches  of  his  conscience,  as  I  ween,  which  tor- 
mented him  awake  by  day  and  asleep  by  night, 
Never  was  wronged  woman  more  completely  and 
tragically  avenged  than  was  this  Berenice,  in  the 
silent  but  ever-living  repentance  of  her  betrayer, 
the  emperor  Titus. 


PHANTASMAGORIA  VI. 

THE    KAPE    OF    THE    TABLETS. 

In  vain  had  I  tried  all  this  time  to  find  out  what 
had  become  of  and  where  were  stored  the  holy  ves- 
sels from  the  temple  of  Jerusalem.  Most  .of  the 
other  booty  brought  back  from  the  Eastern  war 
had  been  deposited  in  the  public  museums.  Search- 
ing among  these,  not  a  single  one  of  the  Jewish 
treasures  could  I  discover.  Especially  concerned 
was  I  about  the  Sinaitic  Decalogue.  At  last  I 
learned  that  Josephus,  who  now  greatly  rose  in 
favor  with  the  emperor,  had  declared  these  tablets 
endowed  with  certain  mystic  powers  by  the  great 
God  of  the  Hebrews,  Jahveh.  They  had  therefore 
been  made  objects  of  utmost  care  by  the  supersti- 
tious monarch.  Kept  in  some  sacred  hiding-place 
at  the  palace,  they  were  guarded  by  soldiers  day  and 
night.  During  my  wanderings  through  the  exten- 
sive and  magnificent  halls,  I  discovered  an  apart- 
ment, entirely  constructed  of  iron  and  flint-rock. 
At  the  entrance  to  this  two  soldiers  paced  up  and 
down  continually.  I  suspected  that  here  was  the 
receptacle  of  the  objects  of  my  anxious  search. 
How  to  find  means  to  gain  admittance  to  the  well- 
secured  and  constantly-watched  premises  was  now 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  117 

my  next  concern.  I  saw  no  other  way  than  to 
make  friends  with  the  men  who  were  placed  in 
charge  of  the  apartment.  I  soon  learned  that  the 
household  troops  exclusively  had  been  commis- 
sioned for  this  duty.  Alternately  every  six  hours 
the  guards  were  changed.  I  commenced  leisurely 
to  associate  with  the  officers.  They  easily  fell  into 
my  snares.  Soon  I  knew  every  man  of  the  corps, 
and  by  patient  and  persevering  observation  was 
enabled  to  find  the  rotation  in  which  they  were 
placed  on  duty.  I  singled  out  one  couple,  appar- 
ently more  good-natured  than  the  rest,  and  became 
very  friendly  with  them.  One  afternoon,  while 
they  were  guarding  the  place,  their  attention 
being  diverted  by  a  grotesque  procession  passing 
the  palace,  an  affair  which  I  had  at  my  expense 
previously  provided  for  this  very  purpose,  I  suc- 
ceeded in  making  a  hasty  but  efficient  impression 
in  wax  of  the  huge  lock,  a  clumsy  but  ingenious 
contrivance  working  bolts  with  a  set  of  pins,  by 
which  they  held  the  portals  to  the  crypt.  From 
this  impression  one  of  the  best  experts  in  the  city 
made  a  key,  which  I  determined  to  try  on  the  lock 
at  the  first  opportunity.  I  found  out  that  my  two 
boon  companions,  in  whom  I  had  created  an  insa- 
tiate appetite  for  my  drink,  were  the  guards  from 
midnight  to  morning  between  the  21st  and  22d  of 
August.  How  impatiently  I  waited  for  that  night ! 
It  came  at  last.  In  the  darkness  I  visited  my 
friends,  and  found  them  but  too  ready  to  be  sociable. 
I  had  brought  with  me  a  large  jug,  one  of  those 
glazed,  light  terra-cotta  specimens  for  which  the 
Roman  potters  were  so  famous.  Their  greedy  eyes 
spoke  of  the  impatience  to  have  it  opened  for  a  taste 
of  its  contents.  With  ever-renewed  gulps  from  the 
tempting  vessel,  there  was  nothing  under  heaven 
which  they  were  not  eager  to  pledge.  Amidst 


118  BEN  BEOE. 

the  most  ridiculous  antics  and  gestures  they  be- 
came maudlin  drunk.  Yet  I  continued  to  ply  them 
with  the  stuff  until  they  fell  away  unconscious.  All 
was  now  safe.  Cautiously  I  approached  the  crypt. 
Trembling  and  with  some  misgivings  I  inserted  the 
key  in  the  ]ock.  Would  it  fit  3  I  turned  it  and 
heard  the  bolts  move  in  the  sockets,  gave  one  pull 
and  the  door  stood  open.  I  entered  and  glanced 
around.  By  the  dim  light  1  espied  the  temple 
treasures,  and  among  them  my  long-wished-for 
prize,  and  lifted  this  from  its  resting-place.  It  was 
much  heavier  than  I  had  calculated ;  but  nothing 
daunted,  1  took  it  in  my  arms,  and  locking  the 
doors  behind  me,  soon  reached  the  dark  street. 
Wrapping  my  mantle  around  the  tablets,  I  got 
away  in  safety. 

I  stored  the  prize  thus  stolen  into  a  war  chariot 
held  ready  for  this  purpose,  and  started  in  haste  for 
the  place  which  I  had  previously  selected  for  its 
burial.  Through  the  Campagna,  past  towns  and 
hamlets,  never  resting,  until  at  last  I  reached  the 
foot  of  Mount  Vesuvius.  Then  I  lifted  my  burden 
and  climbed  up  to  the  raging  crater.  Here  I 
arrived  at  the  next  midnight.  I  braced  myself  for 
the  last  effort,  and  hurled  the  hated  thing  into  a 
seething,  boiling  grave.  With  an  awful  curse  I  ex- 
claimed :  "  May  ye  lie  there  forgotten  until  the 
yawn  of  the  last  day  of  this  globe  shall  open  your 
caldron  doors ! "  A  thrill  of  joy  passed  through  me 
as  I  danced  in  glee  where  1  stood.  The  moon, 
struggling  with  the  thick,  dark  clouds,  showed  her 
face.  As  I  looked  scornfully  and  laughingly  up- 
ward, suddenly  the  ground  under  my  feet  com- 
menced to  sway  and  heave.  The  hills  surrounding 
the  neighborhood  began  to  rise  and  fall  as  if  moved 
by  some  supernatural  giant-power.  The  whole  uni- 
verse seemed  in  frenzied  commotion.  A  lurid  col- 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  119 

umn  of  fire  and  pillars  of  ashes  burst  from  the  crater 
and  swept  the  horizon.  The  most  awful  lightning, 
and  the  deafening,  screeching,  howling,  incessant 
roll  of  thunder  followed.  An  avalanche  of  red-hot 
glohular  monsters  exploded  like  fulminated  flames 
with  the  roar  and  crash  of  a  thousand  cataracts, 
while  repeated  shocks  twisted  and  turned  the  earth 
beneath  my  feet.  Then  all  became  still  for  an 
instant,  and  to  my  horror  I  beheld  rise  from  the 
depths  of  the  volcano,  higher  and  higher,  the  buried 
tablets,  enveloped  in  the  most  gloriously  brilliant 
light.  As  if  borne  by  the  scorching  hot  air,  they 
gradually  lifted  themselves  until  they  actually  stood 
perpendicularly  upright.  Remaining  in  this  position 
for  a  moment,  which  seemed  to  me  eternity,  with 
a  force  which  threw  me  prostrate  near  the  verge  of 
the  boiling  orifice,  they  exploded  in  mid-air  like  a 
brilliant  meteor,  and  were  shattered  into  millions 
of  atoms,  flying  far  out  into  incalculable  distances 
to  all  quarters  of  the  globe,  borne  by  the  hurricane 
which  now  ensued,  to  all  lands  and  countries.  I 
fled  like  a  madman,  never  halting  till  I  reached 
Home.  I  found  that  I  had  been  preceded  by  a 
mounted  messenger,  who  bore  the  awful  tidings 
of  the  eruption  of  Vesuvius  and  the  destruction  of 
Pompeii  and  Herculaneum.  The  country  people 
from  all  directions  were  rushing  through  the  streets, 
looking  more  like  ghosts  than  human  beings.  They 
had  been  terrified  by  the  harrowing  convulsions 
of  the  earth,  which  were  felt  even  in  Rome  and 
still  continued  at  irregular  intervals.  The  uncer- 
tainty of  the  extent  of  the  terrible  destruction,  and 
the  continual  incoming  reports  from  the  scenes  of 
the  unparalleled  disaster,  increased  greatly  the 
ever-spreading  consternation.  It  was  then  and 
there  that  the  elder  Pliny,  one  of  the  most  cele- 
brated authors  of  this  era,  in  his  attempt  to  bring 


120  BEN  BEOK. 

relief  from  his  ship  to  the  stricken  people,  perished 
in  his  efforts.  Weeks  passed  before  the  awed  and 
superstitious  inhabitants,  native  and  foreign,  from 
the  country  and  city,  were  pacified  and  fell  back 
into  their  ordinary  course  of  life.  During  this 
catastrophe  the  emperor  distinguished  himself 
majestically.  He  was  everywhere.  .Reassuring 
the  people  with  kind  and  encouraging  words,  his 
replete  treasury  was  opened  to  better  the  condition 
of  the  poor  and  suffering  as  never  had  been  done 
before,  so  that  many  declared  the  terrible  disas- 
ter had  come  as  a  blessing  in  disguise.  The 
first  stunning  excitement  in  the  capital  having 
somewhat  subsided,  Titus,  with  his  train,  departed 
for  the  stricken  district,  sheltering  those  who  had 
fled  in  dismay  to  the  mountains,  caring  for  the  sick 
and  destitute  and  having  the  uncounted  dead  de- 
cently buried.  Often,  in  danger  of  his  own  life,  pass- 
ing through  the  yet  smoking  debris  and  scoria,  he 
seemed  inexhaustible  in  resource  and  strength. 
Ameliorating  the  pitiful  condition  of  the  helpless 
and  despairing,  encouraging  here,  rousing  there, 
until  at  last  some  semblance  of  order  out  of  the 
terrible  chaos  was  established.  The  urgent  appeals 
of  the  senate  made  now  his  return  to  Rome  im- 
perative. I  had  followed  him  in  his  journeys,  and 
was  often  astonished  at  the  genuine  valor  and 
boundless  benevolence  of  this  man,  who  thus  proved 
his  indisputable  claim  to  the  glorious  title  given 
him  by  his  subjects. 


PHANTASMAGORIA  VII. 

PRIMITIVE   CHRISTIANITY. 

One  of  the  chief  causes  actuating  the  immediate 
return  of  Titus  to  Rome  was  a  message  sent  by 
the  authorities,  the  contents  of  which  conveyed 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  121 

tidings  of  great  importance  to  the  state.  A  new 
secret  society  had  been  discovered  among  the  Pal- 
estinian captives,  calling  themselves  the  "  Ebi- 
onites" — "the  Paupers,"  from  the  fact  that  they 
permitted  none  of  their  members  to  possess  worldly 
goods.  On  entering  the  order,  whatever  was  owned 
by  a  member  was  surrendered  to  the  common  fund, 
from  which  sustenance,  habiliments  and  shelter 
were  provided  for  all.  Seven  commissioners,  called 
"  Presbyters,"  elected  by  the  community  for  this  pur- 
pose, were  charged  with  this  duty.  The  simplest 
and  plainest  of  everything  was  provided,  and  all 
differences  between  poor  and  rich  disappeared  in 
this  strange  fraternity.  In  their  religion  they  ad- 
hered strictly  to  the  Mosaic  law,  with  the  addition 
of  accepting  "Jesus  of  Nazareth"  as  their  ideal 
Messiah,  who  had  come  into  this  world  like  Moses 
of  old  to  redeem  mankind  from  the  bondage  of 
material  and  spiritual  slavery.  Their  creed  was 
"  One  God,  One  law,  and  One  humanity."  They 
lived  a  simple,  unostentatious  life,  praying  often 
and  fervently,  singing  psalms,  and  avowing  them- 
selves loyal  subjects  to  any  government  under 
which  they  lived.  At  meal-times  they  assembled 
together,  pronounced  the  blessing  over  the  wine, 
all  drank  from  the  same  cup,  broke  the  bread  in 
memorial  of  their  Saviour's  last  hour,  and  men  and 
women  indiscriminately  kissed  one  another  as  a 
sign  of  their  fraternal  union. 

They  believed  that  some  of  their  members  were 
specially  chosen  by  superior  spirituality,  intrusted 
with  the  office  of  dispensing  baptism  to  newly 
accepted  members,  and  to  the  older  ones  at  stated 
seasons.  Often  these  select  ones  in  their  enthu- 
siasm prophesied  of  the  early  coming  of  the 
kingdom  of  God.  They  did  wonders  in  the  healing 
of  the  sick,  and  proclaimed  themselves  endowed 


122  BEN  BEOR. 

with  the  Holy  Spirit.  These  few  chosen  acted  as 
spiritual  guides,  and  were  called  "  Deacons."  The 
early  restoration  of  the  Hebrew  government  and 
the  rebuilding  of  the  temple  of  Jerusalem  in  all  its 
former  glory  and  lustre  formed  the  acme  of  their 
religious  expectations,  to  be  fulfilled  by  the  eccle- 
siastical influence  of  their  adored  Messiah,  who  had 
come  and  died  to  accomplish  this  Divine  purpose. 
As  they  observed  the  Seventh-day  Sabbath,  the 
Abrahamitic  rite,  the  biblical  feasts,  and  the  laws 
concerning  the  clean  and  unclean  meats,  inclusive 
of  all  other  Mosaic  institutions,  they  were  looked 
upon  by  their  Jewish  compatriots  as  co-religionists, 
and  were  regarded  as  such  by  the  Gentiles.  Dur- 
ing the  late  fearful  casualty  many  Gentiles  died 
of  abject  terror  and  prostrating  apprehensions, 
others  went  stark  mad ;  but  fortitude,  resignation 
and  quiet  distinguished  these  early  Christians, 
openly  declaring  trust  in  their  God,  who,  though 
angry  with  the  wickedness  and  sins  of  the  world, 
would  protect  and  shield  His  own.  The  chief 
management  of  the  association  was  entrusted  to  a 
venerable  patriarch,  an  adherent  to  and  a  follower 
of  the  apostle  James  surnamed  "  the  Lesser."  The 
motto  of  James  was  the  password  of  his  already 
widely  disseminated  gospel,  by  which  he,  in  contra- 
distinction to  all  other  of  the  disciples,  stands  out 
most  prominently — the  more  so  for  being  own 
brother  of  Him  who  died  on  the  cross  as  a  martyr 
at  the  hands  of  Pontius  Pilatus,  for  openly  de- 
claring himself  "  King  of  the  Jews."  This  pass- 
word, now  so  strenuously  enacted  by  the  Roman 
patriarch,  consisted  in  the  principle  of  "  Deeds,  not 
Creeds,"  or,  as  expressed  in  the  gospel  text,  "  Prove 
yourselves  Doers  of  the  word,  and  not  Hearers 
only." 

Now,  the  equanimity  and  serenity  of  this  band 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  123 

of  captives  during  the  harrowing  hours  of  wild 
commotion  presented  itself  so  conspicuously  to  the 
disorganized  and  scared  crowd  of  Gentiles,  that  they 
flocked  by  the  thousands  to  the  doors  of  the  for- 
eigners and  pitifully  pleaded  to  be  accepted  as 
proselytes  to  the  new  religion  of  Judeo-Christians. 
This  move  threatened  to  decimate  the  worship  of 
Jupiter  and  the  hosts  of  deities,  whose  priests  and 
multifarious  servants  lived  entirely  from  the  sacri- 
fices and  pious  gifts  brought  by  the  multitudes  of 
the  Pagans.  Bitter  and  clamorous  complaints  had 
been  made  by  the  united  hierarchy  of  the  heathens, 
representing  that  in  the  revolution  against  and  dis- 
respect for  the  gods  the  greatest  danger  threatened 
the  state — partly  from  the  celestial  anger  which 
would  surely  and  fatally  avenge  the  unprecedented 
heresy,  partly  by  the  political  and  social  disaffec- 
tion of  the  plebeians,  who,  by  dint  of  their  enormous 
numbers,  might  in  their  intoxicated  enthusiasm 
overthrow  the  entire  order  of  civil  affairs.  After 
lengthy  consultations,  two  of  the  most  influential 
and  best-informed  senators  were  therefore  deputized 
as  ambassadors  to  the  absent  emperor,  to  inform  him 
of  the  impending  crisis,  and  prevail  upon  the  all- 
trusted  monarch  to  return  without  delay  to  the 
capital,  and  forthwith  suppress  the  as  yet  incipient 
revolution. 

On  our  way  homeward  he  imparted  to  me  the 
causes  of  the  newly  arisen  emergency,  asking  my 
judgment  as  to  the  proper  means  of  mastering  the 
certainly  difficult  situation.  I  knew  the  secret 
temper  of  his  feelings  concerning  his  Hebrew  cap- 
tives, emanating  from  the  never-dying  love  he  held 
for  the  absent  Berenice,  which  had  grown  and 
increased  in  strength  until  it  became  a  kind  of  ex- 
alted Platonic  idealism,  permeating  every  trait  of 
his  lately  developed  character.  I  felt  that  advice  of 


124  BEN  BEOR. 

destructive  despotism  was  out  of  the  question. 
This  was  the  more  impossible,  as  interfering  with 
the  religious  affairs  of  so  many  divergent  nations 
lately  conquered  was  not  the  policy  of  the  Romans. 
After  mature  and  deep  reflection  we  came  to  the 
conclusion  that  the  old  Pharaonic  plan  of  cunning 
was  the  most  advisable.  Foremost,  it  became 
necessary  to  obtain  correct  information  as  to  their 
secret  doings.  For  this  purpose  I  proposed  be- 
coming a  member  of  their  society,  which  was  not  a 
difficult  task,  being  known  among  all  the  captives 
as  belonging  to  the  Semites.  When  once  among 
them,  we  could  bide  our  time  for  devising  necessary 
schemes  for  neutralizing  any  mischief  which  they 
might  contemplate.  I,  however,  advocated  the 
immediate  putting  into  effect  of  two  measures:  The 
first  one  was  to  levy  a  small  per  capita  tax  on  every 
believer  in  Mosaism,  with  a  proviso  of  one  much 
larger  for  every  Gentile  proselyte  who  joined  that 
faith.  The  sums  thus  raised  were  to  be  distributed 
among  the  different  temples,  in  order  to  quiet  the 
clamor  of  the  caviling  priests.  The  second  and  more 
important  one  consisted  in  effecting,  if  possible,  a 
total  separation  of  the  old  and  new  Jewish  sects, 
and  then  playing  off  one  against  the  other  on 
the  old  principle,  divide  et  impera.  Titus  highly 
approved  and  lauded  the  wisdom  of  my  views,  and 
immediately  on  our  arrival  home  issued  the  decree 
of  the  "  Jew  tax,"  and  authorized  me  to  proceed  at 
the  earliest  and  most  convenient  time  to  the  execu- 
tion of  the  second  part  of  my  proposal. 

I  found  no  difficulty  in  passing  the  ordeals  by 
which  I  became  a  full-fledged  member  on  the  rolls 
of  the  sacred  conclave,  and  soon,  with  the  usual 
zeal  of  new  converts  and  my  well-known  high 
standing  at  court,  succeeded  in  attaining  to  the 
front  rank  in  their  midst.  Considered  then  as  a 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  125 

very  great  acquisition,  I  was  further  looked  upon 
as  a  God-send  in  the  hour  of  their  new  trials.  Im- 
pecunious as  they  were,  the  hateful  demand  made 
upon  them  by  the  new  ordinance  became  a  loathed 
oppression,  and  I  was  besought  to  use  my  great 
influence  with  the  authorities  and  have  the  man- 
date repealed.  Loud  was  the  joy,  and  increased 
the  strong  hold  I  had  already  on  their  confidence, 
when  I  soon  brought  the  news  that  our  gracious 
Gaesar,  though  unable  to  recall  the  late  law,  would, 
out  of  his  own  coffers,  defray  the  sums  necessary  to 
liquidate  the  tax  as  far  as  it  concerned  my  new 
Jewish  friends. 

At  this  time  an  event  transpired  which  accom- 
plished my  second  great  purpose,  totally  and  for- 
ever severing  the  connection — racial,  national  and 
religious — between  Jew  and  Christian,  thereby 
laying  the  foundation  of  all  the  future  develop- 
ments which  have  proved  so  fatal  and  sore  to  both 
sides,  but  especially  the  proud,  unbending,  yet 
ever-surviving  children  of  Israel.  There  came  to 
the  suburbs  of  the  city — no  one  could  tell  whence 
— a  stranger,  making  his  home  with  one  of  the  many 
Pariah  families  who  dwelt  there  in  poverty  and 
abandon.  The  paterfamilias,  who  was  known  by 
the  name  of  "Manilus  the  Unterrified,"  was  one 
of  those  rough,  picturesque  lazzaroni  who  live  by 
begging,  stealing  or  robbery,  never  having  indulged 
in  the  luxury  of  an  honest  day's  work.  Priscilla, 
his  wife,  a  captive  from  the  British  Isles,  in  remark- 
able contrast,  represented  one  of  those  peculiar 
young  Northern  beauties  whose  rags  and  squalor 
nide  a  countenance  and  character  to  have  made 
her  a  ravishing  model  for  any  master  artist  from 
which  to  paint  an  inspired  conception  of  an  Ari- 
adne or  Helen.  Petite  in  stature  and  delicate  in 
form ;  glowing  with  health  and  youth,  her  com- 


126  BEN  BEOK. 

plexion  was  of  that  peculiar  transparent  color, 
suffused  with  the  tints  of  roses,  which  lends  such  a 
magnetic  charm  to  this  type  of  females.  With  a 
wild  wealth  of  curly  hair,  golden  brown  ;  the  Gre- 
cian profile,  so  rare  in  this  part  of  the  continent ; 
forehead  and  finely  chiseled  nose,  forming  almost  a 
straight  line;  unusually  long  eyelashes,  under 
which,  as  if  to  make  the  contrast  complete,  glinted 
the  most  sad,  liquid,  violet-blue  orbs  that  ever 
rivaled  the  deep  azure  of  the  Italian  sky — how 
even  this  brute,  her  husband,  could  find  the  heart, 
when  coming  home  at  eve  in  besotted  condition,  to 
deal  blows  and  kicks  upon  so  inoffensive  a  creature, 
often  while  nursing  and  holding  that  cherub-like 
girl-baby  to  her  breast,  a  miniature  copy  of  the 
patient  and  cruelly  suffering  maternal  parent,  is  in- 
explicable, except  on  the  theory  that  devil  and 
angel  often  must  consort.  One  day  towards  night- 
fall he  came  home  in  a  quarrelsome  mood.  With- 
out provocation  he  raised  his  cowardly  arm  for  a 
chance  blow  which  might  either  have  killed  or 
disfigured  her  for  life.  The  beastly  stroke  was 
arrested  by  a  hand,  holding  the  assailant's  arm  as 
if  in  a  vise.  The  surprised  coward  drew  himself 
up  to  his  full  height,  and  seeing  that  he  who 
held  him  was  a  stranger,  foaming  at  his  month 
from  sheer  wrath,  he  drew  a  glistening  stiletto 
from  his  breast  with  his  free  hand  and  made  a 
vicious  lunge  at  the  intruder.  To  his  surprise 
and  dismay,  that  arm  was  also  caught  by  a  grip 
which  made  any  further  motion  impossible.  No 
matter  how  he  struggled,  wriggled  and  tried  to 
get  away  from  his  unexpected  opponent,  he  was 
held  by  an  irresistible  power,  which  brought  him 
panting  and  trembling  upon  his  knees.  Then  the 
stranger  cast  his  piercing  eyes  upon  the  quivering 
villain  and  spoke :  "  Too  long  hast  thou  tried  the 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  127 

patience  of  Heaven  in  the  treatment  of  this  thy 
wife  and  child  !  Now  repent  1  Repeat  the  words 
of  prayer  after  me  which  I  shall  now  command,  or 
this  instant  shalt  thou  die!"  The  woman,  too,  had 
fallen  on  her  knees.  The  semi-darkness,  which  hid 
the  group  in  the  dismal  room,  seemed  illuminated 
suddenly  by  a  strange  influx  of  rays  which  the  set- 
ting sun  shed  from  the  carminated  horizon.  Still 
holding  the  subdued  bandit  in  his  grasp,  the  de- 
fender of  the  wife  continued  :  "  I  am  one  of  the 
disciples  of  Christ, — Him  who  has  come  into  this 
world  to  save  the  sinner  and  protect  the  weak 
against  the  strong.  Now  let  us  pray ! " 

Then  in  tones  clear  as  a  silver  bell,  he  spoke 
these  grand,  eloquent,  sublime  yet  simple  words: 
"  Our  Father  who  art  in  heaven,  hallowed  be  Thy 
name;  Thy  kingdom  come;  Thy  will  be  done  on 
earth  as  it  is  in  heaven.  Give  us  this  day  our 
daily  bread,  and  forgive  us  our  trespasses  as  we 
forgive  those  who  trespass  against  us ;  and  lead  us 
not  into  temptation,  but  deliver  us  from  evil. 
Amen." 

Having  finished,  he  relinquished  the  hold  on  the 
arms  of  his  conquered  antagonist.  Large  tears 
rolled  over  the  now  metamorphosed  features  of 
Manilus,  changed  from  the  brutal  to  an  almost 
saint-like  expression.  The  woman  and  child  were 
in  hie  arms.  Such  was  the  heroic  work  of  the 
lately  elected  Bishop  Cecil  Rom  anus,  the  third  suc- 
cessor of  Peter  the  Apostle  among  the  Gentiles. 
By  strange  persuasive  eloquence,  piety,  love  and 
sympathy  which  this  high  priest  of  the  new  Church 
exercised,  accompanied  by  an  earnest  zeal  and 
enthusiasm,  in  a  very  short  time,  from  hitherto 
small  and  insignificant  numbers,  a  powerful  and 
numerous  congregation  of  Heathen -Christians 
sprang  into  active  life.  They  differed  diametrically 


128  BEN  BEOR. 

from  their  Jewish-Christian  brethren,  especially 
in  declaring  that  the  covenant  of  the  old  dispen- 
sation with  the  coining  of  the  Messiah  was  abolished ; 
that  all  the  Mosaic  ceremonials  were  no  longer  in 
force — no  longer  obligatory  on  the  children  of  man, 
whose  safety  and  salvation  rested  exclusively  in 
their  Belief  in  the  Trinity  of  the  Godhead,  and 
not  in  their  works. 

Two  such  divergent  sects,  antagonizing  as  they 
soon  must  one  another,  and  both  to  the  parent-reli- 
gion, the  Jews,  from  which  they  sprang,  I  was  satis- 
fied would  so  press  against  themselves  that  they 
could  not  live  in  peace  together.  On  my  making 
report  to  the  Emperor  of  the  state  of  affairs  concern- 
ing these  things,  we  agreed  that  no  immediate  steps 
by  the  government  were  required  to  hold  all  three 
factions  in  check ;  they  would,  in  the  combat  which 
must  ensue  shortly  among  their  own  ranks,  neu- 
tralize any  danger  to  the  state  or  the  altars  of  the 
gods.  But  while  our  prognostication  proved  true 
for  the  present,  ultimately,  as  their  history  will 
demonstrate,  the  Roman  temples  and  the  Ebionite 
synagogues  were  swallowed  up  entirely  by  the 
rapidly-spreading  Catholic-Christians.  The  stiff- 
necked,  never-subduable  Jews,  quite  contrary  to 
my  plans  and  fondest  expectations,  however,  kept 
themselves  isolated ;  they  survived,  a  remnant  of 
patience  and  endurance,  to  live  on  through  the 
coming  ages. 


PHANTASMAGORIA  VIII. 

PESTILENCE    AND    FIRE    IN    ROME. 

No  one  except  an  eye-witness  could  even  ap- 
proximately measure  the  depth  of  degradation  and 
infamy  to  which  the  Gentile  population  of  the 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  129 

tt  mistress  of  the  world "  had  fallen.  From  the 
lowest  to  the  highest  circles,  depravity,  lust  and 
rapine  reigned  supreme  throughout  the  arteries  of 
this  immense  colossus  of  accumulated  nationalities 
and  races,  who,  to  the  existing  stock  of  native  wick- 
edness, brought  each  a  plentiful  supply  of  the 
abnormal  vices  of  their  own  countries.  Under  the 
authority  and  as  the  rites  of  their  several  religions 
they  practised  the  most  abhorrent  vices.  Every 
carnal  indulgence  which  an  unlicensed  imagination 
could  conjure  up  from  the  depths  of  infamy;  every 
gourmandine  appetite  that  the  most  ingenious  in- 
vention of  a  depraved  taste  might  gratify;  every 
stimulating  luxury  that  might  tickle  the  lascivious 
temper  of  the  idle  and  over- wealthy  patricians — in 
shuddering  contrast  with  the  hunger,  squalor  and 
ferocious  disposition  of  the  unkempt  plebeians, 
produced  a  state  of  affairs  in  this  strangely  mixed 
body-politic  which  in  a  very  short  period  culmi- 
nated in  its  terrible  crash  and  final  downfall. 
Rome,  who  in  her  wanton  power  had  written  with 
fire  and  sword  the  fiat  upon  the  records  of  a  thou- 
sand perished  empires,  sank  by  her  own  innate 
human  weakness  and  crimes. 

One  of  the  worst  features  in  the  catalogue  of  this 
nation's  sins  was  the  necessity  of  providing,  at  . 
public  expense,  those  debasing,  sanguinary  games 
and  pastimes  of  the  arena,  those  gladiatorial  com- 
bats between  men  and  beasts  which  formed  the 
all-engrossing  diversion  of  the  high  and  low.  Such 
a  feast  of  unspeakably  revolting  barbarity,  decked 
with  all  the  pomp  and  paraphernalia  of  outside 
show,  took  place  at  the  opening  of  the  Coliseum, 
the  vastest  structure  of  its  kind  ever  erected  by 
human  hands,  every  stone  of  which  was  cemented 
by  the  blood  and  tears  of  the  Hebrew  captives  who 
had  completed  it  in  the  beginning  of  the  year 
80  A.  D. 


130  BEN  BEOR. 

The  immense  and  unique  edifice  covered  five 
acres  of  ground,  and  had,  besides  the  spacious  im- 
perial and  government  boxes,  and  the  "  sequestrse  " 
for  the  gladiators  and  beasts,  a  seating  capacity  of 
80,000  spectators.  To  celebrate  worthily  its  in- 
augural, prior  to  throwing  it  open  for  the  public 
use,  three  days  of  unprecedented  arena  festivities 
had  been  provided,  irrespective  of  expense  and 
labor.  The  most  extensive  preparations  had  been 
made  under  the  direction  of  Titus  himself,  for  the 
grandest  displays  ever  witnessed  by  even  so  fastidi- 
ous a  people  as  the  pampered  .Romans. 

The  first  day  was  set  aside  for  fights  and  the 
combats  between  the  ferocious  brutes  of  the  na- 
tional museum.  Early  dawn  saw  the  eager  crowds, 
amidst  the  unceasing  strains  of  martial  music, 
wending  their  way  towards  the  many-colored, 
draped,  bannered  and  festooned  auditorium,  where 
walls,  posts  and  pillars  glistened  and  glinted  with 
frescoes,  portraits,  battle-scenes  and  landscapes. 
Promptly  at  noon,  jubilant  shouts  of  the  populace 
within  and  without  announced  the  arrival  of  the 
sovereign,  his  train  and  followers.  The  stupendous 
audience  stood  on  their  feet,  shouting  themselves 
hoarse  with  acclamations  of  joy  and  excitement. 
As  soon  as  he  had  reached  the  magnificent  throne 
provided  for  him  on  the  elevated  dais,  I  stepped 
forth  from  the  alcove  where  I  had  awaited  his 
coming,  and  kneeling,  presented  the  golden  key, 
studded  with  diamonds,  sapphires  and  emeralds, 
in  token  of  having  accomplished  the  greatest 
architectural  work  of  this  or  any  previous  age. 
He  graciously  and  smilingly  accepted  the  gift. 
Amid  the  tumultuous  acclamations  from  the  audi- 
torium, the  orator  and  poet  of  the  day  now  stepped 
forth.  With  a  long  harangue  in  prose  and  verse, 
which  could  not  be  understood  six  feet  from 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  131 

where  he  see-sawed  with  wild  and  grotesque  ges- 
tures, he  at  last  concluded,  to  the  endless  relief 
of  all,  gathered  the  folds  of  his  purple  toga,  and  sat 
down,  no  doubt  the  most  self-satisfied  mortal  on 
earth.  The  bugles  now  gave  the  signals  for  the 
real  opening  of  this  day's  sport.  Then  the  doors 
of  the  cells  where  the  ravenous  beasts  had  been 
hungering  for  days,  were  opened  in  rotation  as 
they  were  wanted,  to  tear  each  other  to  pieces,  or 
to  exercise  their  murderous  strength  upon  some 
hapless  human  victims,  who  had  been  doomed  to 
the  horrible ,  fate  of  encountering  the  teeth  and 
claws  of  the  bears,  lions,  tigers  and  panthers.  It 
is  not  my  purpose  to  describe  in  detail  these  bar- 
barous pastimes,  in  which  the  coarse  Roman  taste 
found  such  delight,  amusement  and  enthusiasm; 
nor  will  I  dilate  upon  the  second  day's  proceed- 
ings, consisting  of  the  races  on  foot,  horseback  and 
chariots.  Even  the  third  day,  with  its  gladiatorial 
and  athletic  exercises,  in  their  various  forms  and 
inhumanities,  engages  my  attention  only  so  far  as 
concerns  the  very  last  act  in  this  dramatic  folly. 
It  brings  before  us  the  moment  near  sunset,  when 
the  last  herald,  with  a  long  call  from  his  silver 
trumpet,  demands  attention,  proclaiming  in  the 
namoof  all  the  gods  the  challenge  to  the  Infidels, 
the  Gnostics,  the  Christians  and  the  Jews,  to  pro- 
duce and  bring  forth  a  champion  for  their  cause 
against  the  Gentile  representative,  who  now  was 
ready  to  enter  the  field  in  defense  of  the  sacred  rights 
of  Polytheism.  Then  he  withdrew ;  but  scarcely  had 
he  disappeared  when  there  stepped  forward  a  mon- 
strous fellow,  a  very  giant  in  all  proportions.  His 
large,  round  head,  shorn  of  hair,  sat  square  upon 
the  ponderous  neck,  growing  from  a  chest  as  broad 
and  powerful  as  that  of  a  lion.  His  bare  arms  dis- 
played muscles  like  cords.  The  whole  form  rested 


132  BEN  BEOR. 

upon  the  most  massive  legs  and  feet.  Barely  had 
he  taken  position  in  the  centre  of  the  arena,  when 
there  sprang  from  the  audience  Manilas,  the  late 
convert  to  Christianity.  With  a  voice  that  rang 
through  the  whole  assembly  he  cried  out : 

"  Woe  to  Rome  the  wicked ! — Woe  to  the  hea- 
thens and  the  sinners ! — Woe  to  the  foes  of  Jehovah 
and  His  anointed  Messiah!  " 

By  this  time  he  had  reached  near  the  spot  where 
his  imposing  adversary  had  taken  position.  Then 
he  exclaimed  in  stentorian  tones: 

"  Thou,  like  Goliah  of  the  Philistines,  comest  to 
me  with  thy  strength  and  thy  boasts!  but  I  come 
in  *the  name  of  the  Lord  of  hosts,  the  God  of  the 
armies  which  thou  hast  defied !  This  day  will  the 
Lord  deliver  thee  into  my  hand  ;  and  1  will  smite 
thee,  and  take  thy  head  from  off  thee ;  and  I  will 
give  the  carcasses  of  the  armies  of  the  Philistines 
this  day  unto  the  fowls  of  the  air  and  to  the  wild 
beasts  of  the  earth,  that  all  the  world  may  know  that 
there  is  a  God  in  Israel,  and  that  all  this  assembly 
may  know  that  the  Lord  saveth  not  with  spear  or 
sword,  for  the  battle  is  the  Lord's  and  He  will  give 
you  into  our  hands." 

No  one  could  help  but  compare  the  appearance  of 
the  antagonistic  parties.  The  new-comer  looked 
like  a  dwarf  alongside  of  his  adversary.  Suddenly 
they  threw  themselves  in  fury  one  upon  the  other. 
Everybody  thought  that  surely  in  the  fierce  en- 
counter the  big  one  would  at  the  very  first  effort 
have  crashed  his  insignificant-looking  adversary. 
But  with  a  subtlety  entirely  unexpected  the  Chris- 
tian eluded  the  terrible  weight  that  was  to  fell 
him,  and  turning  quickly,  with  a  powerful  rush 
upon  the  back  of  his  enemy,  the  giant  was  brought 
with  a  crash  to  the  ground. 

Then,    like    a    streak    of    lightning,    Manilus, 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  133 

drawing  a  large  knife  from  his  bosom,  jumped 
upon  the  prostrate  form,  and  with  repeated  blows 
lel't  the  fallen  colossus  dead  at  his  feet. 

Then  ensued  a  scene  of  tumult,  uproar  and  con- 
sternation, accompanied  by  cries  of  frenzy  and  de- 
spair. Had  it  not  been  for  the  high  barriers  and 
the  strong  guards,  the  masses  would  have  leaped 
to  where  this  singular  combat  was  enacted,  and  no 
doubt  have  torn  the  victor  to  pieces.  But  an  oc- 
currence took  place  at  this  instant  which  made 
unnecessary  any  further  efforts  in  this  direction. 
A  well-directed  lance  thrown  by  one  of  the  guards 
smote  the  conqueror  in  his  breast,  and  with  the 
repeated  cry,  "  Woe  to  Rome  ! — Woe  to  the  hea- 
thens ! — Woe  to  the  sinners! — Woe  to  the  foes  of 
Jehovah  and  his  anointed  Messiah  !"  Manilas  sank 
expiring  upon  the  dead  body  of  his  huge  chal- 
lenger. 

Now  the  portals  that  led  to  the  inner  circle  of 
the  combatants  were  thrown  open,  and  the  disap- 
pointed, chagrined  and  humiliated  spectators 
rushed  in  to  where  the  corpses  of  the  two  gladi- 
ators lay.  Those  who  pushed  forward  noticed  with 
surprise  that  both  bodies  were  covered  from  head 
to  foot  with  red,  angry-looking  pustules  and  spots, 
emitting  a  peculiar  odor  which  could  not  possibly 
be  ascribed  to  any  putrefaction,  since  death  had 
barely  set  in.  The  attention  of  a  medical  man 
being  called  to  this  strange  phenomenon,  he  pres- 
ently cried  out:  "The  Pestilence! — the  Pestilence! 
Fly,  people,  for  your  lives !  let  none  come  near ! 
let  none  approach  or  touch !  "  As  the  dismayed 
multitude  tied  in  every  direction,  many  heard  the 
plaintive  voice  of  a  beautiful  woman  with  a  babe 
on  her  arm,  who  stood  near  the  entrance  of  the 
door,  sounding  like  the  lament  of  doom — "  Woe  to 
Rome  ! — Woe  to  the  heathens ! — Woe  to  the  foes  of 
Jehovah  and  His  anointed  Messiah  !  " 


134  BEN  BEOR. 

This  was  the  now  widowed  Priscilla  and  her 
orphaned  daughter. 

By  the  next  day  the  horrible  disease  made  its 
appearance  in  several  quarters  of  the  city,  the 
sanitary  condition  of  which  was  in  an  awful  state. 
True,  where  the  Patricians  had  their  palaces  and 
mansions  on  the  broad  and  magnificent  avenues 
and  streets,  all  was  scrupulously  clean  and  bright. 
But  the  byways  and  alleys,  their  "  angi-portus," 
inclusive  of  almost  all  that  lay  in  the  suburbs  and 
around  the  river  Tiber,  were  like  so  many  sinks 
and  cesspools  of  filth  and  dirt.  The  terribly  con- 
tagious germs  of  the  awful  "  Black  Death  "  had,  no 
doubt,  been  brought  here  and  introduced  by  some 
of  the  Asiatic  prisoners  of  war,  who  still  continued 
to  come,  and  who  had  been  only  lately  brought  in  ; 
its  fatal  harvest  becoming  quickly  and  malignantly 
ripe.  So  indifferent  had  the  selfish  people  become 
to  the  affairs  of  a  next-door  neighbor,  or  even  an 
inmate  of  their  own  dwellings,  that  the  news  of 
the  first  victims  of  the  dread  disease  passed  by 
unheeded  and  unnoticed.  But  when  the  killing 
invader  spread  its  presence,  grinning  hither  and 
thither  with  a  convulsive  omnipresence ;  when  the 
fearful  clutch  no  longer  fastened  alone  on  the  poor 
and  vulgar,  but  rushed  upon  the  aristocracy  also, 
deluded  by  the  vain  security  that  wealth  was 
proof  against  contagion  ;  when  the  bloated,  fester- 
ing corpses  suddenly  multiplied  among  the  opulent 
and  startled  nobility,  then  the  authorities,  with  an 
unparalleled  activity,  roused  themselves  to  the  most 
stringent  and  sweeping  measures  for  the  relief  of 
the  stricken  inhabitants  and  the  arrest  of  further 
incursions  of  the  malignant  malady. 

Yain  were  the  efforts  of  frail  humanity  against 
the  destructive  agency  of  nature,  once  let  loose 
upon  its  calamitous  career.  All  precautionary 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  135 

efforts  became  futile  against  the  mad  onslaught  of 
the  pestilence.  Yellow  flags  were  ordered  hoisted 
from  every  dwelling  where  entered  the  epidemic. 
In  a  few  days  every  street  looked  as  if  curtained 
with  these  sombre  emblems  of  terror;  but  soon 
there  were  neither  hands  to  display  such  nor 
material  from  which  to  make  them.  The  dead 
could  no  longer  be  decently  buried.  Lamentations 
and  tears  ceased ;  callousness  and  indifference 
took  the  place  of  sympathy  and  benevolence. 
Medical  science  stood  appalled  and  helpless.  Pa- 
gan religion,  in  prosperity  so  boastful,  now  stood 
mute  and  wan,  her  ministers  fleeing  to  safe  dis- 
tances, or  were  engulfed  in  the  common  lot,  perish- 
ing by  the  scores. 

Whoever  could  get  away  from  the  carnival  of 
destruction  went  precipitately — often  to  perish  at  a 
little  distance,  after  having  but  started.  In  the 
ever-increasing  exodus,  many  carried  with  them 
the  already  distinguishable  symptoms  of  the  certain 
contagion. 

Soon  parents  forsook  their  children,  husbands 
their  wives  ;  all  the  bonds  of  love,  devotion,  friend- 
ship, and  interests  of  any  nature,  ceased  to  exist. 
Houses  became  empty ;  the  marts  and  stores  stood 
forsaken  and  deserted,  for  there  was  no  one  to  sell 
or  to  buy. 

Large  numbers  of  those  who  had  escaped  the 
pestilence  became  mad  with  fear  and  apprehen- 
sion, and  ran  through  the  streets  wildly  gesticulat- 
ing and  shouting.  The  military,  who  suffered  no 
less  than  the  civilians,  had  to  be  commissioned  for 
burial  at  night  of  the  ever-swelling  thousands  of 
festering  victims.  Graves  could  no  longer  be  dug, 
but  bodies  were  thrown  into  the  river.  The  very 
atmosphere  became  thick  and  loathsome,  and  it 
seemed  as  if  the  process  of  extermination  would 


136  BEN  BEOR. 

never  cease  until  the  last  subject  for  its  hold  had  been 
stricken.  These  were  mournful  and  yet  glorious 
days  for  Titus.  Day  after  day,  night  after  night, 
in  unceasing  vigils,  he  exerted  all  his  power  and 
strength  to  combat  the  calamity.  With  super- 
human efforts  he  tried  to  rally  the  people,  help  the 
needy,  console  the  despairing,  encourage  the  weak, 
grapple  with  the  destroyer,  restore  order,  re-estab- 
lish law  and  security.  Invulnerable  himself  to  the 
disease,  while  coming  in  contact  with  its  lowest 
and  most  malignant  types,  I  verily  believe  he  would 
have  gladly  laid  down  his  life  to  stay  its  ravages. 

Wonderful  to  say,  the  Jews  and  Ebionites  en- 
joyed to  a  large  extent  great  immunity  from  the 
havoc  of  the  pestilence.  No  doubt  their  strict  adher- 
ence to  the  Mosaic  dietary  laws,  the  enforcement 
of  cleanliness,  purity  and  temperance  as  religious 
rites,  their  abstinence  from  the  forbidden  meat  of 
swine ;  then  the  scrupulous  care  of  the  sick,  and  the 
conscientious  attention  paid  by  special  appointed 
committees  for  the  immediate  burial  of  any  dead; 
the  never-to-be-extinguished  sympathetic  "  helping 
hand,"  which,  from  motives  of  charitable  dispo- 
sition, is  ever  and  under  all  circumstances  ex- 
tended to  a  needy  or  suffering  Hebrew ;  their  forced 
absence  from  the  crowds,  they  not  being  permitted 
to  attend  the  public  shows; — all  these  reasons  may 
well  account  for  the  phenomenal  freedom  from 
danger  in  their  camps.  Since  the  completion  of 
the  Coliseum  they  had  been  permitted  rest  and 
recuperation  from  physical  exertion.  Their  ranks 
had  been  swelled  by  the  addition  of  visitors  from 
the  Holy  Land,  whence,  by  permission  of  the  gov- 
ernor, they  came  in  search  of  their  kin-people,  bring- 
ing such  relief  as  money  and  nursing  would  provide. 
Long  before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem  there  had 
been  a  prosperous  and  highly  respected  colony  of  these 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  137 

peculiar  people  in  Rome ;  and  while  they  apparently 
kept  aloof  from  their  unfortunate  brethren,  yet  under 
the  leadership  of  Josephus — to  his  credit  it  must  be 
said — their  good  offices  and  powerful  help  in  a  quiet 
and  unostentatious  way  were  extended  to  many. 
The  Christians,  followers  of  Peter,  suffered  to  even 
a  less  extent.  Largely  drawn  from  the  rank  and  file 
of  the  Gentiles,  they  continued,  irrespective  of  the 
new  creed,  their  associations  with  former  friends; 
and  while  openly  exposed  to  the  epidemic,  yet  they 
strove  like  angels  of  mercy  in  the  lowest  huts  and 
dens  against  the  raging  calamity.  Priscilla  especi- 
ally, with  her  beautiful  babe  always  near,  served 
them  as  an  example.  Forgetful  of  risk  and  danger, 
she  could  be  seen  attending  the  stricken  ones,  de- 
voted and  loving  as  only  an  enthusiastically  inspired 
woman  may,  laboring  with  relentless  efforts  at  all 
hours  of  day  and  night.  Her  sweet  smiles,  her  re- 
assuring words,  her  kind  works,  even  to  the  meanest, 
acted  like  soothing  and  powerful  medicaments,  and 
often  succeeded  in  snatching  some  poor  friendless 
being  from  the  very  jaws  of  the  destroyer.  To  the 
astonishment  of  her  acquaintances  and  the  people 
with  whom  she  came  in  contact,  she  seemed  to  bear 
a  charmed  life,  remaining  rosy,  fresh,  and  active. 
Once  the  Emperor  met  her  engaged  in  those  self- 
imposed  holy  duties,  and  on  being  told  who  and 
what  she  was,  in  the  presence  of  all  his  retinue, 
kissed  the  little  woman  on  her  forehead,  and  caused 
immediately  large  sums  and  voluntary  helpers  to  be 
placed  at  her  disposal.  O  the  blessings  and  the  tears 
that  were  showered  upon  the  Nazarenes  with  their 
giant  hearts !  No  wonder  that  such  converts  drew 
fresh  disciples  to  the  baptismal  font  of  the  ever- 
spreading  new  faith.  Still  the  number  of  the  dead 
increased  with  fearful  rapidity;  they  already  ex- 
ceeded one  hundred  thousand.  At  this  time,  when 


138  BEN  BEOR. 

every  gate  of  the  fortifications  surrounding  the 
seven  hills  had  been  thrown  open,  and  no  surveil- 
lance was  kept  over  the  departing  fugitives,  large 
numbers  of  the  Palestinian  captives  mingled  with 
the  fleeing,  and  all  who  could,  got  away,  there 
being  no  one  to  hinder  or  gainsay  their  leaving. 
In  fact,  most  people  who  had  anything  to  do  with 
them  were  glad  to  get  rid  of  the  encumbrance.  After 
a  short  period  the  Jew-quarter  was  almost  entirely 
emptied.  My  birds  had  flown,  and  in  spite  of 
every  exertion  which  I  then  could  make  I  failed  to 
find  their  destination.  All  I  did  ascertain  was, 
they  did  not  return  to  their  fatherland,  but  moved 
on  further  Westward. 

When  the  mortuary  misery  had  reached  its 
greatest  bounds,  one  of  the  most  trusted  medical 
counselors  suggested  the  advisability  of  purifying 
the  contaminated  atmosphere,  by  building  huge  fires 
all  over  the  city  and  its  precincts.  This  was  put  into 
immediate  execution.  Either  that  the  remedy  was 
really  efficacious,  or  that  the  energy  and  attention  of 
the  masses  were  diverted  from  the  source  of  danger 
and  directed  to  some  absorbing  occupation,  by  which 
they  attained  new  hope  and  raised  a  spark  of  latent 
vitality,  the  measure  acted  like  a  charm.  The  burial 
rates  diminished,  convalescent  patients  appeared  on 
the  highways  and  byways,  feasting  their  eyes  on  the 
columns  of  flame  and  smoke  everywhere  rising  sky- 
wards and  causing  the  landscape  to  appear  like  a 
sea  of  fire. 

As  if  the  cup  of  appalling  woe  was  to  be  drained 
to  the  dregs  by  the  doomed  capital,  on  the  third 
day  of  these  fire-displays,  towards  evening,  the 
caloric  heat  generated  in  one  of  the  central  quarters 
became  so  intense  that  it  ignited  a  wooden  struc- 
ture in  the  middle  of  the  block  of  residences.  The 
flames  spread  with  fearful  rapidity,  defying  all 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  139 

efforts  to  stay  the  conflagration.  At  midnight  the 
leaping  tongues  of  the  merciless  fiend  lit  up  the 
heavens  from  a  thousand  structures;  the  cries 
and  shrieks  from  the  now  houseless  people  mingled 
with  the  roar  and  the  noise  of  the  ever-spreading 
flames  and  the  crash  and  thunder  of  the  falling 
buildings.  For  three  days  it  seemed  as  if  chaos 
were  come  again.  It  was  difficult  to  reach  the 
water  of  the  river ;  it  was  still  more  difficult  to 
get  people  to  bring  it.  Only  the  merest  apologies 
of  organized  help  existed.  It  appeared  as  if  all 
the  enraged  elements  had  combined  and  were  let 
loose  upon  doomed  Rome. 

On  the  fourth  day  the  whole  district  was  con- 
sumed, arid  the  very  want  of  further  inflammable 
material  stayed  at  last  the  terrible  calamity.  But 
oh  what  a  sight!  what  an  experience  !  Uncounted 
people,  just  oat  of  the  jaws  of  the  pestilence,  now 
hungry,  naked,  unsheltered  and  unprovided !  Many 
envied  the  fate  of  those  who  had  been  thrown  in  the 
charnel-heaps  or  who  were  committed  to  the  Tiber, 
to  float  down  as  food  for  the  fishes  of  the  Adriatic. 
Again  the  hard-tried  Emperor  came  to  the  rescue. 
Every  available  tent  of  the  military  was  erected 
near  the  walls  of  the  city,  for  the  shelter  of  his  desol- 
ate subjects.  A  fleet  with  provisions  from  Arabia 
opportunely  arrived  that  day  at  the  landings,  and 
the  Emperor  from  his  own  exchequer  purchased  the 
food  and  had  rations  issued  to  the  famishing.  No 
one  was  allowed  to  suffer  if  it  could  be  helped.  He 
sent  word  to  those  who  had  lost  their  all  to  keep 
good  courage;  that  he  would  at  his  own  expense 
re-erect  every  building  demolished,  and  from  per- 
sonal resources  make  good  every  loss  sustained.  In 
proof  of  the  truth  of  his  promises  a  public  committee 
was  at  once  appointed  by  him,  and  millions  upon 
millions  of  gold  placed  at  their  disposal  for  use  and 
distribution. 


140  BEN  BEOR. 

Wretched  Emperor!  he  should  never  see  the  reali- 
zation and  accomplishment  of  these,  his  unprece- 
dented humanitarian  designs. 

Exhausted  by  the  heartrending  trials  which  beset 
his  afflicted  subjects  during  the  short  term  of  his 
auspicious  reign,  lie  was  assailed  by  burning  fever, 
and  hoping  to  find  rest  and  restoration  at  the  quiet 
retreat  of  his  villa  in  the  Campagna  —  the  same 
place  where  his  father  Vespasian,  before  him,  had 
spent  the  last  days  of  a  troubled  life — he  repaired 
thither.  Addicted  passionately  to  the  use  of  the 
bath,  against  the  advice  of  his  medical  men,  he 
greatly  increased  the  danger  of  his  malady,  when, 
by  counsel  of  his  wily  brother,  he  at  last  had  resort 
to  an  immersion  in  a  tub  of  snow.  He  expired 
in  great  agony  on  the  13th  day  of  September,  81 
A.  D.,  worshipped  by  a  weeping  people  and  exalted 
in  history  as  one  of  the  grandest  sovereigns  of  his 
realm.  But  the  picture  and  fate  of  poor,  forsaken 
Berenice  are  said  to  have  haunted  him  to  the  last. 


PHANTASMAGORIA  IX. 

A  PSEUDO-MOSES. 

My  mission  in  Rome  was  ended.  The  successor 
to  the  throne,  Domitian,  younger  and  only  brother 
of  Titus,  was  in  every  point  of  character  the  oppo- 
site of  his  predecessor.  Coarse  and  mean  in  dispo- 
sition, crafty  and  vulgar  by  nature,  licentious  and 
tyrannical,  selfish  and  low,  he  belonged  to  those 
abnormities  of  human  nature  who  appear  from 
time  to  time,  a  curse  of  their  race. 

Distrustful  and  jealous,  when  he  saw  me  in  favor 
with  his  father  and  brother  he  had  no  friendship 
for  me.  It  was  time,  too,  that  I  should  look  after 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  141 

and  trace  my  escaped  Jewish  adversaries  and  learn 
what  had  become  of  the  fugitives.  From  information 
obtained  without  difficulty,  I  persuaded  myself  that 
the  miserable  remnant  left  in  Palestine  had  ceased 
to  be  a  factor  in  the  future  of  the  Hebrews. 

The  backbone  of  their  nationality  seemed  to  be 
broken  forever.  If,  in  their  desperation  and  blind 
fury,  under  the  heels  of  their  oppressing  foreign 
governors,  they  undertook  to  throw  off  the  yoke  of 
slavery,  they  became  utterly  impotent,  and  even  more 
aggravating  to  their  enemies.  This  was  notably  the 
case  in  a  widespread  revolt  under  "  Bar  Chochba," 
in  the  city  of  Betar,  which  cost  the  lives  of  nearly  a 
half  million  Jews,  without  achieving  any  results. 

The  sages  and  teachers  frittered  their  time  away 
with  disputations  among  themselves,  and  in  the  col- 
lection of  the  trite  and  effete  traditions  of  their  an- 
cestors, gathering  and  arranging  material  for  book- 
making.  They  boasted  that  already  the  first  vol- 
umes of  "Oral  law  decisions"  were  ready  for  publi- 
cation. This  proved  afterward  true,  in  the  appear- 
ance of  certain  volumes  called  the  "  Mishnah,"  and 
in  its  further  extension,  many  years  later,  in  the 
wild  vagaries  of  the  "  Talmud,"  or  "  Gamarah." 
In  my  short-sightedness  I  could  see  in  these  literary 
labors  nothing  but  a  useless  waste  of  energy.  At- 
taching to  such  brain-work  not  the  first  value,  I 
considered  further  attention  to  the  Palestinian  por- 
tion of  my  Mosaic  foes  unnecessary.  I  disdained 
to  smite  a  lot  of  caviling  rabbins,  with  their  puerile 
and  insignificant  disputes  and  dissertations. 

Had  I  but  intimated  to  the  new  sovereign  any 
idea  of  treason  attempted  by  the  schools  of  Jabne 
and  Pompedita,  where  the  Sanhedrins  wasted  time 
in  "  Halacha  " — law  decisions — and  "Agadu" — le- 
gends and  fables — one  crushing  blow  from  Rome 
would  have  extinguished  their  existence.  But  no ; 


142  BEN  BEOR. 

tliey  might  argue  and  write  to  their  hearts'  content, 
if  I  could  reach  the  new  and  powerful  colonies 
which  must  have  started  somewhere,  and  which  I 
was  determined  to  discover  in  their  unknown  re- 
treats. So  I  departed  on  my  errand  to  search  the 
continent  for  the  fugitives  from  Rome. 

In  all  my  long  and  extensive  peregrinations  I 
never  lost  sight  of  the  main  task  which  I  had  set 
for  myself.  With  such  avowed  purpose  I  found 
easy  access  to  the  potentates,  the  aristocracy  and 
churchmen,  all  of  whom  were  eager  to  introduce  me 
to  one  another.  This  facilitated  the  dissemination 
of  the  intoxicating  drink,  with  the  aid  of  which  I 
hoped  to  achieve  great  results.  And  indeed  it  sel- 
dom failed.  The  peasants  and  tradesmen,  groaning 
under  the  weight  of  abject  dependence  and  poverty; 
the  soldiers,  with  their  natural  dissoluteness — all 
became  easy  victims  of  my  beverage.  Liquor-dis- 
pensing shops  were  soon  found  in  every  Cisalpine 
land.  Here  assembled  all  classes  of  the  population. 
Quarreling,  disputing  and  gambling,  they  sank  to 
the  vilest,  meanest  and  most  impoverished  revelers, 
seeking  to  forget  their  suffering  and  hard-tried  fami- 
lies at  home.  Here  they  stayed  till  late  into  the 
night,  and  often  committed  excesses  which  brought 
them  to  the  prisons,  or  they  became  guilty  of  crimes 
which  led  them  to  the  block  of  the  hangman. 
Under  such  influences,  in  a  few  generations,  these 
mobs  were  prepared  for  the  outrageous  work  in  store 
for  them,  to  be  continually  used  as  blind  tools  by 
the  thrones  and  altars.  The  greatest  suffering  was 
reserved  for  women.  At  all  times  they  intuitively 
shrank  from  me,  spurned  my  affections,  had  sub- 
jected my  feelings  to  the  keenest  and  most  torturing 
disappointments.  Now  I  determined,  if  possible, 
no  more  to  be  won  by  soft  smiles  and  blandish- 
ments, but  to  be  avenged  upon  the  whole  sex  for 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  143 

the  faults  of  a  few  of  its  number.  I  could,  how- 
ever, as  a  rule,  tempt  no  female  to  partake  of  the 
intoxicant.  When  now  and  then  I  succeeded  in  be- 
guiling one  into  its  use,  she  made  such  a  disgusting, 
abhorrent  spectacle  of  herself — by  far  more  repul- 
sive than  any  man — that  she  became  a  warning 
example  to  all  her  sisters. 

For  over  three  centuries,  while  the  whole  civil- 
ized world  was  re-shaped  and  re-moulded,  I  wan- 
dered from  land  to  land,  without  being  able  to  find 
a  trace  of  my  long-lost  Hebrew  captives.  True,  in 
the  city  of  Prague  and,  farther  northward,  the  town 
of  Worms,  and  several  places  under  Teutonic  rule, 
small  colonies  of  Israelites  existed.  These  had, 
however,  come  here  directly  from  Palestine,  long 
before  the  destruction  of  Jerusalem.  Though  thrifty 
and  wealthy,  importing  overland  highly-prized  Ori- 
ental products,  and  exporting  to  the  East  in  ex- 
change tin,  jewels  and  gold,  yet  they  consisted  of 
but  comparatively  few  families,  living  peaceably 
and  sociably  with  their  rude  neighbors.; 

Wandering  thus  north,  south,  east  and  west,  over 
the  whole  continent,  making  myself  acquainted  with 
the  principalities  for  use  hereafter,  I  reached  at  last 
the  British  Isles.  These  I  included  in  the  dark 
future  which  I  was  preparing  for  all  countries  dur- 
ing the  now  approaching  Mediaeval  ages.  Spite 
the  most  scrutinizing  search,  nothing  whatever  could 
I  learn  of  those  mysteriously-disappeared  Hebrews. 
Resting  one  evening  near  London,  on  the  banks 
of  the  river  Thames,  the  drunken  antics  of  some 
sailors  on  a  foreign  ship,  making  ready  for  her  voy- 
age, attracted  my  attention. 

I  saw  a  dusky-looking  traveller,  with  a  lady  lean- 
ing on  his  arm,  step  upon  the  plank  which  led  to 
the  boat.  Slowly  and  carefully  he  led  the  way, 
supporting  the  woman  in  his  charge.  W'heii  he 


14:4  BEN  BEOR. 

was  half-way  up  the  narrow  gangway,  being  then 
immediately  over  the  tossing  water,  a  brawny,  un- 
couth fellow,  in  blind  haste,  running  from  the  ship, 
jostled  against  the  newcomers.  The  lady  lost  her 
balance  and,  with  a  piercing  scream,  fell  into  the 
river.  It  took  me  but  a  moment  to  rush  to  the 
brink,  spring  after  and  rescue  her  from  an  untimely 
death.  With  the  aid  of  her  companion  and  others 
who  hastened  to  our  assistance,  we  were  soon  safely 
on  board  the  ship. 

When  the  excitement  caused  by  this  sudden  ac- 
cident was  over,  I  learned  that  in  a  few  hours  the 
craft  would  sail  for  the  island  of  Crete;  that  the 
person  who  had  lately  come,  and  whose  wife  had 
met  with  the  serious  mishap,  was  the  owner  of  the 
boat,  now  bound  for  her  return  trip  home  to  "  Me- 
galocastron,"  the  capital  of  the  little  state.  He  told 
me,  what  I  had  already  surmised  from  his  features 
and  peculiar  gait,  that  he  was  a  Jew — chief  of  the 
different  congregations  living  in  the  several  Levan- 
tine towns,  who  had  escaped  from  Roman  rule 
years  ago,  there  had  colonized,  and  who  were  now 
prosperous  and  of  great  commercial  power.  He 
had  been  to  England  to  perfect  mercantile  connec- 
tions for  himself  and  brethren  and  had  been  emi- 
nently successful,  but  for  the  late  accident,  which 
nearly  proved  so  fatal  to  his  lately  wedded  spouse,  in 
whom  was  centred  all  his  love  and  happiness. 
Their  expressions  of  gratitude  were  oppressively 
profuse,  and  nothing  would  do  but  that  I  accept 
their  hospitality  and  accompany  them  to  the  far- 
off  home.  Here,  then,  by  the  merest  chance,  I 
found  a  clue  to  the  whereabouts  of  my  long-searched- 
for  truants,  and  it  took  but  little  persuasion  for  me 
to  accept  the  cordial  invitation.  An  hour  later  I 
had  my  effects  aboard,  when  towards  evening  the 
anchors  were  lifted,  and  with  full  sails  we  passed 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  145 

down  the  river  into  the  canal  towards  the  open  sea. 
The  narrow  sphere  of  one  of  these  old  Phoenician 
boats  is  most  conducive  to  confidential  relations. 
The  slow  progress,  the  monotony  of  confinement  on 
the  small  deck  or  in  the  coffin-like  cabins ;  the  ab- 
sence of  all  interesting  employment  save  the  watch- 
ing of  the  sky  and  water ;  even  the  meals,  with  their 
very  few  varying  courses,  and  the  limited  com- 
pany— all  tend  to  draw  the  few  passengers  closely 
together,  and  soon  each  became  acquainted  with  the 
past  history  of  the  others.  Thus  I  early  was  in  pos- 
session of  the  life-stories  of  my  host  and  hostess.  The 
latter  especially  was  highly  interesting  to  me.  She 
proved  to  be  of  the  most  piquant  and  contradictory 
character  and  disposition.  Tall  and'  commanding 
in  stature,  a  perfect  type  of  Eastern  women ; 
face  dusky,  with  lustrous  eyes ;  long,  black  hair, 
broad  forehead  and  swan-like  neck ;  an  exquisitely 
moulded  nose,  and  lips  upon  which  continually 
rested  a  sarcastic  smile,  she  was  a  beauty  so  brilliant 
as  to  make  me  think  of  the  Queen  of  Sheba,  of  whom 
even  so  wise  a  king  as  Solomon  became  enamoured. 
But  what  struck  me  most  after  a  nearer  acquaint- 
ance was  her  peculiar  disposition :  one  moment 
sad  and  pensive,  the  next  exultant  and  gay;  this 
instant  frowning,  weeping  and  fretting ;  the  very 
next,  without  cause  or  reason  for  such  a  change, 
laughing,  hilarious  and  jovial.  And  all  this  with  a 
mind  so  unbending  and  domineering  as  must  make 
living  with  her  for  any  length  of  time  a  source  of 
aggravation  and  ceaseless  worry.  She  had  been 
married  to  her  husband  by  her  highly  respected  but 
po^r  parents,  according  to  the  fashion  of  the  Orient, 
without  ever  before  having  known  him.  The  old 
folks,  now  dead,  were  not  Hebrews,  but  belonged  to 
a  numerous  class  of  intelligent  natives  who  had 
become  proselytes  to  the  covenant  of  Abraham.  The 


146  BEN  BEOR. 

husband  of  this  strange  woman  was  one  of  those 
grand  specimens  of  manhood,  in  form  as  well  as  dis- 
position, reminding  one  of  the  patriarchs  of  old. 
With  unlimited  wealth,  generous,  highly  bred  and 
cultured,  infatuated  by  her  beauty  and  vivacious- 
ness,  he  doted  upon  his  queenly  wife,  despite  her 
peculiarities  and  waywardness.  But  she  soon  hated 
him  for  his  riches;  hated  him  for  his  generosity; 
hated  him  for  his  indulgence  and  patience  towards 
her ;  she  hated  him  most,  however,  for  his  religion 
and  all  that  belonged  to  it,  especially  for  its  cere- 
monial life,  to  which  she  must  conform.  She  there- 
fore made  his  whole  existence  one  continued  source 
of  trouble  and  misery.  The  present  journey  having 
become  necessary,  not  withstanding  remonstrances  and 
urgent  appeals,  she  insisted  upon  accompanying  him 
on  his  travels,  full  of  inconveniences  and  dangers. 
Arrived  at  his  destination,  she  left  him  no  rest  day 
or  night,  insisting  upon  immediate  return  home; 
so  he  must  hasten  and  overwork  himself  to  com- 
plete the  pending  negotiations.  At  last  these  were 
finished  and  their  departure  undertaken.  We  have 
seen  how,  at  the  very  start,  she  nearly  lost  her  life. 
Now  he  fell  sick  from  over-exertion  and  lay  in  the 
cabin,  nursed  almost  exclusively  by  a  servant,  while 
she  on  deck  in  any  company  gave  her  prankish 
mood  full  sway.  Far  from  being  jealous,  yet  he 
grievously  felt  the  conjugal  neglect,  and  when  once 
chiding  her  reproachfully  for  such  indifference,  she 
pounced  upon  him  with  a  volley  of  harsh  words, 
accusing  him  of  shamming  illness.  Soon  after- 
wards, when  I  had  occasion  to  go  to  his  couch,  I 
found  him  in  tears.  From  henceforth  the  symptoms 
of  his  disease  became  more  serious  and  alarming, 
and  now  with  equal  contrariness  she  became  franti- 
cally solicitous,  and  would  not  leave  him  for  a 
moment.  With  her  crying  and  lamentations  she 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  147 

worried  everybody  around  her,  and  with  bitter  accu- 
sations blamed  herself  as  the  cause  of  his  suffering. 
Thus  passed  a  few  dreary  days.  One  morning  it 
became  evident  that  his  end  was  nigh,  and  that  but 
a  few  hours  would  elapse  before  his  final  dissolution. 
He  called  us  all  around  him,  placed  a  large  sealed 
package — his  last  will  and  testament — in  the  hands 
of  his  wife,  telling  her  with  faint  words  that  this 
document  made  her  his  sole  heir,  with  the  excep- 
tion of  the  good  ship,  bequeathed  to  the  faithful 
captain,  who  was  also  a  pious  old  Hebrew.  Then 
placing  his  wife  in  my  charge,  and  breathing  the  last 
words  of  an  expiring  Israelite,  his  struggles  were 
over — he  was  dead ! 

The  weather  being  excessively  warm,  it  was  im- 
possible to  keep  the  body,  so  it  was  wrapped  in  a 
winding-sheet  of  bissus.  We  buried  the  corpse  that 
same  evening  in  the  bosom  of  the  Mediterranean, 
where  we  now  were  on  our  way  homeward.  Nothing 
conceivable  to  my  mind  is  more  sad  and  mournful 
than  such  a  burial  at  sea;  and  this  seemed  especially 
so.  The  gray-haired  captain,  as  he  assisted  in  letting 
the  body  down,  mumbled  over  it  a  few  Hebrew 
words  of  prayer.  He  shook  like  one  in  a  fever,  and 
big  tears  rolled  down  his  swarthy  face.  Miranda, 
the  wife,  like  one  crazed,  swayed  to  and  fro,  tore  her 
hair,  smote  her  bosom  and  made  attempts  to  throw 
herself  after  the  corpse  into  the  high-tossing  waves. 
I  caught  her  and  she  fell  fainting  into  my  arms. 
We  carried  her  limp  and  seemingly  lifeless  to  the 
cabin.  Here,  however,  she  recovered  very  soon. 
Lying  motionless  on  a  couch,  staring  into  vacancy, 
we  thought  it  best  to  leave  her  with  her  sorrow  in 
the  care  of  an  old  nurse,  a  faithful  attendant  during 
this  journey. 

When  a  few  hours  later  I  came  back  to  console 
her,  what  was  my  surprise  to  find  the  widow  sitting 


148  BEN  BEOE. 

up,  so  deeply  engrossed  in  reading  the  contents 
of  the  now  open  and  unsealed  package,  that  at 
first  she  had  not  even  noticed  my  entrance.  "  Mine 
— all  mine!"  she  exclaimed  in  a  jubilant  tone. 
"Money  almost  uncounted,  treasures  without  end! 
— all  mine  without  let  or  hindrance,  with  no  one 
to  domineer,  none  to  grudge  or  direct."  Hand- 
ing me  a  packet,  she  said  :  "  Take  this  and  see  if  it 
is  of  any  use  to  you,  for  it  is  of  none  to  me.  You 
will  find  therein  the  result  of  this  voyage,  a  full 
account  of  our  people  at  home  and  their  new  con- 
nections with  the  merchants  and  traders  of  Britain/' 
Among  this  bundle  of  documents  I  indeed  after- 
wards found  all  those  things  for  which  I  was  so 
fervently  searching,  fully  set  forth.  I  found  the 
numbers  and  wealth  of  the  people  who  had  been 
divided  into  several  congregations,  or  "Kehilahs," 
as  they  called  them  ;  a  short  but  comprehensive  his- 
tory of  the  settlements  since  their  departure  from 
Rome;  their  hopes  and  aspirations  at  home  and 
abroad;  and  finally,  the  conception,  execution  and 
results  of  this  mission  by  their  chief,  "  the  Parnass," 
as  he  was  titled  in  these  writings.  Nothing  more 
precious  could  have  been  bestowed  upon  me!  From 
these  documents  I  also  learned  of  a  strange  delusion 
with  which  these  Hebrews  were  filled,  concerning  the 
early  coming  of  a  personal  Messiah  who  would  lead 
them  back  to  Palestine  and  restore  the  temple  in 
Jerusalem,  as  promised  them  by  the  ancient  prophets. 
So  wild  were  their  imaginings  in  this  respect  that 
their  authorities  felt  themselves  constrained  to 
send  to  one  of  the  leading  members  of  the  Sanhe- 
drin  of  Persia,  the  renowned  and  princely  Rabbi 
Ashi,  the  celebrated  father  of  the  Babylonian 
Talmud,  who,  with  all  the  influence  of  his  eloquence 
and  authority,  warned  the  people  from  entertaining 
and  fostering  such  evil-boding  vagaries.  This 


HISTORICAL,  PHANTASMAGORIA.  149 

knowledge  determined  the  line  of  my  future  policy. 
Upon  my  arrival  among  them  I  resolved  to  try  the 
role  of  a  "  Pseudo-Moses,"  in  order  to  entice  these 
benighted  Jews  into  my  calamitous  plots,  which 
should  lead  to  their  utter  destruction. 

To  return,  however,  to  the  bereft  young  widow. 
During  our  interview  she  showed  her  most  curious 
nature.  First  it  was  a  bitter  lamentation,  gar- 
nished with  an  abundance  of  tears,  bewailing  her 
apparently  irretrievable  loss  ;  then  she  would  sud- 
denly stop  and  appeal  to  me  as  the  savior  of  her 
life,  and  beg  that  I  remain  her  true  friend;  that  I 
must  stand  by  her  as  a  protector  and  guardian  against 
her  co-religionists,  who  always  had  disliked  the 
not  over-scrupulous  convert  since  she  became  the 
wife  of  their  leader.  They  had  planned  that  he 
should  marry  some  daughter  of  theirs,  a  girl 
whom  she  cordially  hated  and  despised.  They  would 
make  every  possible  effort  now  to  get  possession  of  the 
wife's  inheritance,  and  she  implicitly  trusted  to  me,  so 
good,  so  kind  and  generous,  to  espouse  her  cause  in 
the  hour  of  need.  She  declared  that  it  was  an  ac(. 
of  God's  providence  to  find  a  faithful  and  dear 
companion,  and  that  there  was  nothing  in  her  power 
and  gift  which  she  would  not  gladly  sacrifice  to 
reward  me  for  the  great  troubles  and  cares  which 
the  confidential  and  important  trust  would  certainly 
cause  me.  As  she  was  speaking  thus  she  became 
more  and  more  excited,  her  face  flushed,  and  the 
pressure  of  her  hands,  which  held  mine,  increased 
with  the  warmth  of  her  passionate  recital.  One 
needed  but  little  knowledge  of  human  nature  to 
divine  the  drift  of  the  whole  performance,  and  it 
filled  me  with  such  feelings  of  disgust  and  aversion 
that  I  loathed  these  advances  even  while  she  spoke. 
And  yet  I  would  not  estrange  her  from  me,  it  being 
patent  that  I  must  hold  this  woman  completely  ia 


150  BEN  BEOR. 

my  power,  to  be  used  as  a  great  instrument  in  my 
future  schemes. 

So,  promising  faithful  performance  of  everything 
asked  of  me,  and  speaking  words  of  consolation  and 
comfort  to  her,  now  that  her  maid  entered,  we 
parted  the  best  of  friends.  Before  morning  I  had 
read  the  documents  and,  guided  by  their  contents, 
laid  out  the  plan  which  I  intended  to  pursue  on  my 
landing  at  the  island  of  Crete.  The  foremost  diffi- 
culty which  presented  itself  to  my  mind  was  how  to 
keep  this  woman  devotedly  attached  to  me,  without 
revealing  the  intense  antipathy  I  felt  for  her  person. 
Like  an  inspiration  it  struck  rne  that  it  would  be 
best  for  this  purpose  to  assume  without  delay  my 
role  of  "  Messiah,"  and  by  filling  her  with  feelings  of 
reverence  and  holy  awe  for  my  individuality,  keep 
her  at  a  proper  distance. 

When  next  I  saw  the  widow  she  was  seated  under 
a  canopy  near  the  cabin  of  the  boat,  erected  with 
great  skill,  beautifully  ornamented.  "Such  a  won- 
derful dream  I  had  last  night !  "  she  excitedly  broke 
forth  upon  seeing  me.  These  people  place  great  value 
on  dreams.  I  had  to  take  a  seat  close  by  her  side. 
Then  she  began :  te  I  saw,  while  asleep,  my  late  de- 
parted husband  standing  as  an  angel  before  the 
throne  of  the  Lord,  surrounded  by  all  the  heavenly 
hosts,  while  a  mighty  chorus  chanted,  '  The  sceptre 
shall  not  depart  from  Judah,  nor  the  councilor  from 
between  his  feet,  until  he  cometh  of  Shiloh,  and  to 
him  shall  the  nations  gather.'  Then  I  saw  you, 
dear  friend,  rise  from  out  their  midst  in  a  giant's 
form,  robed  in  celestial  garments  of  a  seer  and 
prophet,  and  the  whole  assembly  cried  out  as  with 
one  voice,  ( It  is  he  who  has  come  from  Shiloh !  To 
him  shall  the  nations  gather!  " 

As  she  concluded  I  rose,  and  throwing  aside  the 
mantle  with  which  I  had  covered  my  inner  garb, 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  151 

stood  before  her  in  the  identical  robes  she  had 
described,  and  in  which  I  had  clothed  myself  pre- 
paratory to  the  announcement  which  I  had  designed 
to  make  to  her  in  this  very  hour.  I  saw  her  tremble 
from  head  to  foot  and  her  face  grow  pale.  "  Who 
art  thou,"  I  heard  her  exclaim,  in  a  quivering, 
startled  voice,  "  that  cometh  to  me  like  the  realization 
of  a  supernatural  vision  ?"  Straightening  myself 
up  to  my  full  height,  I  replied,  "Be  it  then  revealed 
to  thee,  woman — I  am  Moses,  he  who  released  our 
people  once  from  the  bondage  of  Egypt,  now  com- 
missioned to  return  to  earth  and  once  again  gather 
them  and  lead  them  back  to  their  fathers'  lost 
inheritance,  that  they  may  re-erect  the  fallen  temple 
for  the  glory  and  worship  of  the  Lord."  At  this 
she  knelt  before  me  and  gave  forth  such  cries  of  joy 
and  amazement  that  every  one  on  board  of  the  ship 
came  running  towards  us.  To  them  she  told  the 
miraculous  story  of  her  dream  and  my  revelation. 
They  too,  every  one  of  them,  fell  on  their  faces, 
exclaiming  until  it  echoed  throughout  the  ship  far 
over  the  waters,  "Lo  we  have  seen  the  Messiah! 
God  be  praised!  glorified  be  the  Lord  of  hosts 
Zabaoth ! "  During  the  remainder  of  the  journey, 
which  lasted  another  week,  I  was  treated  with  such 
veneration,  deference  and  distinction  as  amounted  to 
worship.  Three  times  each  day  we  prayed  together, 
and  with  implorations  of  fiery  zeal  and  cant,  of 
which  I  was  an  elocutionary  master,  I  raised  their 
state  of  mind  to  enthusiastic  frenzy.  I  appointed 
the  woman,  by  solemnly  laying  hands  upon  her 
head,  as  my  sanctified  prophetess.  With  similar 
ceremonies  the  aged  captain  was  made  my  chief 
executive.  The  remainder  of  the  crew  and  attend- 
ants were  my  lieutenants  and  body  servitors. 
Within  twenty-four  hours  they  prepared  at  my  com- 
mand complete  outfits  of  white  garments,  in  which 


152  BEN  BEOR. 

they  henceforth  clothed  themselves,  looking  like  a 
company  of  spirits.  An  immense  banner  was  made 
from  white  linen,  fringed  with  gold.  On  the  centre 
of  this,  embroidered  by  the  skilled  hands  of  Miranda, 
who  had  forgotten  all  else  in  her  slavish  devotion 
to  me,  were  the  pompous  words :  "  The  Messiah  hath 
come ! "  This  flag  was  hoisted  on  our  mast,  no  doubt 
to  the  bewilderment  and  astonishment  of  every  pass- 
ing craft,  quite  a  number  of  which  we  now  met 
almost  hourly.  Other  smaller  ensigns  of  the  same 
pattern  were  prepared,  to  be  carried  hereafter  by  each 
of  us.  The  same  words  which  adorned  our  banner 
were  employed  by  every  one  on  board  as  salutation, 
so  that  whenever  one  passed  another  they  cried  out, 
"The  Messiah  hath  come !  " 

The  next  thing  which  engaged  my  attention  was 
how  to  proceed  on  landing  at  the  port  of  our  destina- 
tion. I  planned  that  as  soon  as  our  anchor  was 
dropped  we  would  form  a  procession,  and  then  move 
through  the  main  street,  which  led  to  the  syna- 
gogue, greeting  every  one  whom  we  should  meet 
with  the  ominous  words  of  our  holy  salute. 

I  drilled  my  converts  daily  in  this  exercise,  until 
all  was  arranged  and  understood  to  perfection. 

At  last  we  entered  the  harbor,  the  only  one  of  the 
island.  Here  was  a  very  busy  day ;  a  large  crowd 
of  people  were  engaged  in  bringing  and  taking  away 
merchandise.  As  soon  as  we  had  dropped  anchor 
we  assembled  on  deck,  each  waving  a  streamer  with 
our  watchword  emblazoned  thereon,  and  shouting 
"  The  Messiah  hath  come !  " 

The  strange  proceedings  and  peculiar  exclama- 
tions soon  attracted  a  great  number  of  people,  who 
wondered  what  this  all  was  about.  We  swerved 
neither  to  the  right  nor  to  the  left,  but  with  every 
pomp  our  small  numbers  were  capable  of,  forthwith 
started  in  the  order  and  manner  which  I  had  pre- 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  153 

arranged.  Miranda  led  the  train  ;  the  captain,  with 
me,  marched  next,  and  then  the  balance  closed  up 
the  procession.  Long  before  we  had  reached  the 
temple,  report  had  spread  throughout  the  city  that 
the  "  Parnass  ship  "  had  returned,  and  of  the  strange 
proceedings  by  his  wife  and  her  followers,  while  the 
husband  nowhere  was  seen.  When  we  arrived  at 
the  steps  of  the  edifice,  after  a  long  and  slow  march, 
all  Israel  was  assembled  to  receive  us.  Then  we 
mounted  the  platform  before  the  portal,  and  here  I 
addressed  the  assembly.  From  time  to  time  my 
sentences  were  interrupted  by  my  adherents  with 
their  watchword,  which  was  soon  taken  up  by  the 
masses  as  they  became  first  interested  and  then  heated 
to  boundless  enthusiasm.  "  Chosen  children  of  Is- 
rael, your  merciful  God  at  last  has  compassion  on 
your  dispersion  and  suffering.  Like  in  days  of  old 
when  Henoch  walked  before  the  Lord  and  he  was 
no  more,  for  '  God  took  him/  so  He  has  called  home 
in  death  at  sea  your  beloved  '  Parnass '  and  leader. 
But  He  has  deputed  me,  the  prophet  Moses,  from 
the  right  hand  of  His  throne,  to  descend  among  His 
people  and  deliver  them  again,  as  of  yore,  from  the 
bondage  of  their  oppressors.  So  shall  the  words  of 
the  prophet  be  fulfilled  which  say,  'From  the 
North  shall  come  your  Redeemer !'  And  as  it  is 
further  written,  'Behold,  I  will  send  to  you  the 
prophet  Elijah,  before  the  great  and  awful  day  of 
the  Lord  cometh.'  Recognize,  then,  in  this  young 
woman  the  anointed  messenger  from  on  High,  to  be 
with  me  as  Aaron  was  when  your  fathers  walked 
out,  free  from  the  land  of  slavery.  Now  go  ye  as 
your  ancestors  did  at  Mount  Sinai,  and  obey  my 
words  :  *  Sanctify  the  people  to-day  and  to-morrow, 
and  let  them  wash  their  garments,  which  be  white 
as  mine  and  these,  and  be  ye  ready  against  the  third 
day.  For  on  the  third  day  the  Lord  will  come 


154  BEN   BEOR. 

down  in  the  sight  of  all  the  people  from  the  moun- 
tain.' (Ex.  xix.  10,  11.)  Now  do  ye  this  :  go  and 
pray  and  fast  for  these  two  days,  as  I  and  mine,  shall 
do ;  divest  yourselves  of  all  your  sins  and  earthly 
cares — have  neither  worldly  goods  nor  possessions 
any  longer,  but  leave  all  dross  to  your  enemies ; 
assemble  at  a  place  near  the  sea,  which  I  shall 
appoint,  when,  at  my  command,  the  waters  will  part 
and  you  shall  walk  over  as  on  dry  land.  And  bring 
there,  by  your  special  messengers,  all  Israel  dwelling 
on  the  island,  so  that  the  people  be  assembled  on  the 
third  day  at  early  morning.  Then  shall  ye  see  the 
glory  of  your  God,  '  for  the  Lord  will  fight  for  you, 
but  ye  shall  be  still ! ' "  (Ex.  xiv.  14.)  Hereupon  the 
multitude  raised  one  simultaneous  wild  cry — "  The 
Messiah  hath  come ! — the  Messiah  hath  come !  And 
all  the  Lord  hath  spoken  we  will  do  and  obey ! " 

Then  I  bestowed  upon  them  the  blessing  of  the 
high-priest,  and  called  upon  all  to  disperse  and  go 
to  their  homes  to  prepare  for  the  awful  event  that 
was  to  come.  But  they  formed  themselves  now  into 
various  groups.  These  I  watched  with  the  keenest 
interest.  Everybody  argued  or  was  argued  with, 
and  with  such  animated  excitement  and  gesticulation 
as  only  these  Semitic  people  are  capable  of.  Here 
a  rabbi,  with  long  double-pointed  white  beard,  a 
skull-cap  upon  his  flowing  hair,  forming  ringlets  on 
each  side  of  his  forehead,  addressed  a  crowd  of  elders, 
emphasizing  every  sentence  by  pounding  the  long 
staff  in  his  right  hand  heavily  on  the  ground.  Yon- 
der was  another  circle,  presided  over  by  a  hunchback 
giant  who  while  speaking  waved  his  arms  up  and 
down  like  poles,  vociferating  in  the  most  fantastical 
manner.  In  one  corner  a  lot  of  younger  people 
stood  huddled  together  and  listened  to  the  enthusi- 
astic harangue  of  a  fine-looking  girl,  whose  wealth 
of  raven  black  locks  flowed  in  the  wind.  She 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  155 

seemed  to  receive  assent  to  all  her  assertions,  by  the 
continual  nods  and  shaking  of  heads  from  the  hear- 
ers. The  most  vivid  and  picturesque  scene,  how- 
ever, ensued  as  there  issued  forth  from  out  of  one 
of  the  crowds  an  aged  man,  who  I  afterwards 
learned  was  a  universally  known  retired  merchant, 
respected,  revered,  and  almost  implicitly  trusted  in 
worldly  and  spiritual  affairs,  having  lived  here  three- 
score and  ten  years,  distinguished  for  his  kindness, 
charity,  good-humor  and  clear  judgment.  He  was 
known  everywhere,  even  by  the  little  children,  as 
"  Old  Father  Selig."  Getting  down  on  his  knees,  he 
cried  out  at  the  top  of  his  trembling  voice :  "  Blessed 
be  the  Holy  One,  the  Sovereign  of  the  universe,  who 
has  preserved  me  and  let  me  see  this  great  and  glo- 
rious day,  now  that  I  am  sure  that  my  Redeemer 
liveth!"  Amidst  the  wildest  rejoicings  and  accla- 
mations of  the  multitude  he  ascended  to  where 
we  stood,  took  the  large  flag  which  Miranda  held, 
kissed  her  and  me  on  the  forehead,  then  led  the  way, 
and  beckoning  us  to  follow,  made  the  air  ring  with 
the  incessant  exclamation,  which  was  repeated  by 
every  one,  "  The  Messiah  hath  come ! "  We  fol- 
lowed him,  as  did  the  whole  crowd,  forming  a  tri- 
umphal procession  leading  us  to  the  palace-like 
mansion  of  the  Parnass,  where  all  from  the  ship 
took  up  their  residence,  becoming  the  welcome  guests 
of  our  hostess.  Only  one  man,  middle-aged,  bald- 
headed,  small,  but  wiry  in  appearance,  with  failing 
health  written  in  every  feature,  going  by  the  name 
of  "Horeb,"  known  as  a  mathematical  factotum, 
an  everlasting  cynical  doubter  and  grumbler,  had 
warned  the  people  of  the  assemblage  against  delu- 
sions and  impositions ;  had  tried  to  make  his  voice 
heard,  in  vain,  cautioning  against  surprises  and 
over-confidence.  But  he  was  unable  to  reach  the 
ears  of  the  sanguine,  madly  roused  Hebrews,  and 


156  BEN  BEOR. 

was  seen  to  move  away  in  the  opposite  direction 
from  that  which  we  took,  shaking  his  head  and 
wringing  his  hands.  Unperceived  I  watched  him 
closely,  being  to  me  the  exemplification  of  the  voice 
in  the  wilderness,  the  picture  of  truth  so  often 
crushed  and  smothered  among  the  blind  mortals  of 
this  earth  by  folly,  falsehood  and  pretentious  error. 
Next  day  I  sent  out  the  prophetess,  the  captain 
and  the  rest  of  our  company,  presumably  to  see  that 
my  orders  for  fasting  and  praying  were  strictly  fol- 
lowed. They  had  to  work  with  all  their  influence 
and  persuasion  to  undo  the  mischief  wrought  by 
Horeb,  the  singular  individual,  who  gained  many 
followers  among  the  more  sober  and  calculating 
of  his  mercantile  co-religionists.  He  found  pow- 
erful allies,  too,  among  friendly  and  well-meaning 
Christians  and  Gentiles,  who  lived  here  in  large 
numbers,  and  who  were  perfectly  overwhelmed  by 
the  strange  infatuation  of  their  Mosaic  neighbors. 
But  this  availed  nothing  in  the  end.  I  searched 
next  day  over  the  suburbs  of  the  city,  and  at  last 
found  a  spot  most  excellently  suited  for  my  purpose. 
It  was  a  fine  promontory,  sloping  gradually  into  the 
sea,  with  an  immense  plateau  on  top.  I  gave  it  at 
once  the  name  of  "  Jew-hill/'  which  it  has  retained 
unto  all  times.  Thither  I  led,  on  the  third  day,  at 
sunrise,  the  whole  concourse  of  the  Hebrew  people, 
who  had  come  from  near  and  far,  summoned  by  the 
messengers.  Every  one  appeared  in  white,  shroud- 
like  garments.  I  could  not  count  them,  there  were 
so  many.  They  certainly  numbered  closely  on 
one  hundred  thousand.  How  my  eyes  feasted  on 
the  doomed  multitude!  Their  old  friend  Selig 
led  the  van,  bearing  our  waving  banner.  When  all 
had  come  to  a  halt,  standing  on  the  topmost  height, 
the  prophetess  by  my  side,  I  addressed  them  in  these 
words  :  "  Children  of  God  Zabaoth !  Behold  before 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  157 

you  the  waters,  as  your  ancestors  saw  the  waves  of 
the  Red  Sea.  This  day  shall  once  again  be  mani- 
fested the  Lord  and  His  omnipotent  power.  Israel 
shall  inherit  anew  the -land  of  promise  where  milk 
and  honey  flows.  Therefore  follow  ye  now  as  your 
fathers  of  old  did  when  I  led  them  dry-shod  through 
the  briny  deep.  '  Messiah  hath  come ! '  and  as  you 
see  me  reach  yonder  boulders  midway  down  this  hill, 
follow  your  prophetess  and  hurry  into  the  waves, 
which  will  part  to  your  right  and  to  your  left,  that 
you  may  with  me  reach  on  dry  ground  the  blessed 
land  of  Palestine.  Whosoever  feareth  the  Lord, 
obey  me!"  Then  I  hastened  to  reach  the  ap- 
pointed spot.  With  a  cry  of  jubilee,  Miranda  at 
the  head  of  all  the  people  followed,  shouting  the 
everlasting  refrain,  "The  Messiah  hath  come!" 
Reaching  the  waters  they  plunged  in,  those  in  front 
crowded  on  by  those  in  the  rear,  only  to  be  swallowed 
up  in  the  foaming  flood  by  the  thousands.  Miranda 
was  the  first  to  drown,  followed  by  the  old  captain 
and  his  crew.  I  had  screened  myself  beneath  a 
cavity  among  the  rocks  against  the  irresistible  im- 
petus of  the  headlong  rush,  reappearing  as  all  the 
crazed  followers  had  passed,  and  feasting  my  eyes  on 
the  unbounded  havoc  of  the  masses,  gurgling  with 
death  in  the  ocean.  Now  I  rose  on  top  of  the 
highest  boulder,  screeching  out  in  satanic  triumph  : 
"  The  Messiah  hath  come !  the  Messiah  hath  come ! " 
It  never  has  been  ascertained  how  many  of  my 
enemies  perished  that  day.  Great  numbers^  how- 
ever, to  my  infinite  regret,  were  saved  by  the  humane 
and  merciful  sailors,  who  bravely  rushed  in  among 
the  drowning,  and  at  risk  of  their  own  lives,  rescued 
them  by  heroic  efforts.  I  had  just  time,  amidst  the 
terror  and  unbounded  consternation,  to  divest  myself 
of  my  assumed  priestly  garments  and  disappear 
from  sight  and  action.  How  I  laughed  at  my  friend, 


158  BEN  BEOR. 

the  Grecian  philosopher  and  statesman,  Socrates, 
who  declared  in  his  ecclesiastic  writings  that  it  was 
a  demon  from  hell  who  so  fearfully  beguiled  those 
benighted  Jews  into  perdition,  under  the  crazy  notion 
that  "  The  Messiah  had  come!" 

Notwithstanding  the  cruel  havoc  wrought  by  the 
events  told  here,  my  object  to  destroy  these  prosper- 
ous colonies  of  Jews  was  only  partially  attained, 
Out  of  this  very  affair  grew  the  germ  for  greater  and 
much  more  difficult  events  in  a  near  future. 

The  Christian  boatmen,  saving  large  numbers, 
were  congregated  here  partly  by  their  business, 
partly  by  a  curiosity  to  be  present  and  witness  the 
miracle  which  was  to  occur,  the  news  of  which  had 
traveled  all  over  the  island.  So  humanely  were 
these  victims  of  blind  enthusiasm  treated  by  the 
Nazarenes,  and  so  kindly  cared  for  were  the  now 
impoverished  and  despairing  survivors,  that  a  great 
number  of  Jews  abjured  their  faith  and  were  baptized 
in  the  new  church. 

Very  few  of  those  who  remained  faithful  abided 
in  their  old  homes.  The  bitter  recollections  of  the 
awful  deception  which  they  had  experienced  drove 
them,  with  the  wandering  staff  in  hand,  into  further 
exile.  Most  of  these  crossed  the  sea  to  a  far-away 
land,  beyond  the  wilderness  of  Petrea,  where  in  a 
beautiful  section  of  Arabia  they  founded  new  col- 
onies. Soon  they  established  for  themselves  an 
independent  and  prosperous  government,  and  were 
joined  by  aJiost  of  their  fugitive,  persecuted  breth- 
ren from  other  lands.  There  I  shall  meet  them 
again  at  some  future  time,  hoping  to  be  done  with 
them,  forever. 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  159 

PHANTASMAGORIA  X. 

MAHOMET  VS.  JUDAISM. 

If  ever  there  was  a  paradisical  region  on  the 
habitable  globe,  it  exists  in  that  part  of  the  Orient 
which  is  most  aptly  called  "Arabia  felix,"  the 
happy  land  of  Arabia.  Nature,  foremost  of  all, 
has  showered  upon  the  country  her  most  bountiful 
blessings.  The  earth  is  fertile,  and  produces  with- 
out much  eifort  from  man  her  precious  gifts,  both  of 
need  and  luxury.  The  climate  is  comparatively 
mild.  The  annual  rains  provide  sufficient  humidity 
to  keep  the  ground  moist  and  arable.  The  labor  in 
the  fields  is  as  light  and  pleasant  as  that  of  a  garden. 

The  lush  g^ass  of  the  meadows  never  fails  the 
herdsman,  as  can  readily  be  seen  by  the  sleek  cattle, 
the  excellently  conditioned  camels,  and  the  fine 
horses — the  pride,  boast  and  love  of  the  natives. 
Here  grow  those  wonderful,  mighty  palm-trees,  the 
date-fruit  of  which  is  the  principal  food  of  the 
people.  A  hand  lifted  against  any  of  these  giant 
trees  equals  an  affront  to  man,  and  to  wantonly  cut 
one  down  is  regarded  as  murder.  The  social  and 
political  condition  of  the  inhabitants  used  to  be 
patriarchal,  the  head  of  the  house  being  its  absolute 
ruler.  At  the  entrance  of  his  tent  he  planted  a  pen- 
non, and  on  it  hung  the  protective  scimiter.  Who- 
soever entered  here  and  broke  the  bread  of  hospitality 
was  sacred  as  a  guest,  though  he  were  to  be  found 
afterward  the  death-enemy  of  the  family.  Complete 
tolerance  formed  the  absolute  rule  in  religious  mat- 
ters. There  lived  here  a  host  of  fire-worshipping 
Gentiles,  nearly  equaled  in  numbers  by  the  strictly 
ceremonious  Jews,  and  a  smaller  colony  of  Christians. 
With  the  exception  that  everybody  attended  his  own 
peculiar  worship  under  liberal-minded  ecclesiastics, 


160  BEN  BEOR. 

and  followed  the  rules  and  rites  of  creed  and  faith,  in 
public  and  private  intercourse,  no  other  distinction 
was  known; 

Equally  patriotic,  these  people  were  always  united 
in  the  defense  of  their  common  country,  harassed 
and  often  assailed  by  warlike,  barbarous  neighbors. 
Friendship,  love,  sympathy  and  mutual  helpfulness 
distinguished  the  communities,  and  not  unfrequent 
"intermarriages  between  all  the  sects  aided  in  main- 
taining the  good  feeling  and  fraternal  relations  be- 
tween otherwise  incongruous  neighbors.  Such  model 
conditions  existed  and  were  concentrated  in  the 
strongly  fortified  city  of  Kha'ibar  and  its  dependent 
territory. 

A  citadel  had  been  erected  here  at  immense  ex- 
pense by  the  united  efforts  of  the  citizens,  who  con- 
sidered the  place  impregnable  against  any  assault 
from  without.  This  was  strengthened  by  a  number 
of  smaller  fortifications  extending  all  over  the 
suburbs. 

Here  was  settled  now  a  large  colony  of  Hebrews, 
who  claimed  that  Moses,  after  the  passage  through 
the  Red  Sea,  sent  an  army  against  the  Amalekites 
inhabiting  Midian,  some  of  whom  remained  after 
the  war  in  this  invincible  stronghold.  There  was, 
however,  a  tradition  amongst  a  large  number  of 
other  Israelites,  that  their  ancestors  took  refuge 
here,  posterior  to  the  ignominious  betrayal  at  the 
Island  of  Crete  by  a  pretended  Messiah,  the  "  Pseudo- 
Moses." 

Generations  had  passed  since  that  event,  but  the 
memory  of  the  disaster  and  the  vile  treachery  of  the 
mysterious  impostor  was  kept  alive,  bejng  told  from 
father  to  son  and  descanted  upon  as  one  of  the  mys- 
terious visitations  of  angry  heaven  against  a  sinful 
race. 

For  several  centuries  I,  Ben  Beor,  had  not  con- 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  161 

cerned  myself  about  these  people.  I  knew  from, 
the  habits  of  the  natives  that  their  tastes  were 
entirely  abstemious,  and  my  great  and  powerful  ally, 
"Intoxicating  drink,"  would  avail  me  nothing  in 
these  regions.  Other  instrumentalities  must  be 
employed  in  order  to  break  up  the  threatening,  if 
yet  incipient,  power  which  flourished  in  a  most  con- 
genial soil.  I  had  during  the  past  centuries  care- 
fully watched,  guarded  and  guided  the  development 
and  growth  of  maturing  Christianity  on  the  conti- 
nent, and  was  advised  lately  of  an  entirely  new  and 
unexpected  factor  which  had  arisen  in  the  East,  well 
calculated  to  further  and  strengthen  my  cynical  de- 
signs. This  was  one  of  the  most  phenomenal  heroes 
of  the  Orient — the  prophet  Mahomet — and  his  still 
more  unprecedented  religion,  Islamism. 

Of  low  and  humble  origin,  most  favorable  circum- 
stances conspired  to  carry  this  man  on  the  swell- 
waves  of  fortune  to  the  highest  pinnacle  of  fame, 
influence  and  wealth ;  and  by  even  more  rapid 
rushes  prospered  the  new  faith  which  he  originated 
and  propagated. 

The  career  of  both  the  man  and  his  cause  seems 
like  a  tornado,  arising  just  in  time  to  sweep 
everything  before  it.  Reaching  the  zenith  of  afflu- 
ence by  the  bestowal  of  princely  gifts  from  relatives 
and  friends,  the  exalted  ecstasy  and  enthusiasm  of 
his  spiritual  aspirations  fitted  most  opportunely  the 
exigencies  of  his  peculiar  surroundings. 

The  religion  of  the  natives  was  a  mixture  of 
materialism  and  fanatic  superstition,  resting  on  no 
other  foundation  than  tribal  usage  and  legendary 
transmissions,  ready  to  be  overthrown  and  to  crum- 
ble to  pieces  by  the  first  fierce  shock  which  should 
come  from  a  sagacious  and  trusted  hand.  Judaism 
was  at  no  time  aggressively  missionary.  It  could 
not  accomplish  this  revolution.  Its  abstract  priii- 


162  BEN  BEOR. 

ciple  of  "  One  invisible  God,  with  no  personal  rep- 
resentatives on  earth,"  and  its  high  code  of  morality, 
law  and  equitable  justice,  were  beyond  the  grasp  and 
understanding  of  the  heathen.  Its  unelastic  cere- 
monial, entirely  antagonistic  to  the  free  and  un- 
hampered mode  of  life  among  the  children  of  the 
sun,  made  it  impossible  that  the  Mosaic  belief  should 
ever  become  a  sweeping  substitute  for  their  religious 
cravings. 

Much  less,  however,  was  Christianity,  at  its  state  in 
those  times,  suited  to  the  Arabians,  whose  dual  deity, 
"Vishnu"  and  "Shiva" — Light  and  Darkness — 
proved  already  too  much  for  them  ;  so  it  was  not 
likely  that  a  Trinity  of  the  Godhead  should  find  favor 
in  their  eyes.  The  incarnated  divinity  of  the  Messiah 
— an  immaculate  conception ;  a  theory  of  salvation  by 
faith, — such  complex  and  supernatural  dogmas  were 
entirely  beyond  the  comprehension  of  those  simple 
people.  The  followers  of  Christ  in  their  midst,  as 
they  learned  without  difficulty,  were  divided  also  to 
extremes  among  themselves,  even  in  the  cardinal 
principles  of  faith.  To  comprehend  this  baneful 
state  of  sectarianism  among  the  Christians  at  this 
early  period,  an  enumeration  of  a  few  of  the  leading 
sects  will  give  an  idea  of  their  segregations.  There 
were: 

The  "  Sabellians,"  so  called  from  Sabellius,  a 
Libyan  priest  of  the  third  century,  who  believed  in 
the  unity  of  God,  and  that  the  Trinity  expressed 
but  three  different  states  or  relations,  all  forming 
but  one  substance,  as  man  consists  of  body  and  soul. 

The  "Arians,"  from  Arius,  an  ecclesiastic  of  Alex- 
andria in  the  fourth  century.  These  affirmed  Christ 
to  be  the  Son  of  God,  but  distinct  from  Him  and 
inferior  to  Him.  They  denied  the  Holy  Ghost  to 
be  God. 

The   "  Nestorians,"  from   Nestorius,   bishop   of 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  163 

Constantinople  in  the  fifth  century,  maintained  that 
Christ  had  two  distinct  natures — divine  and  human; 
that  Mary  was  only  his  mother,  and  Jesus  a  man, 
and  that  it  was  an  abomination  to  style  her,  as  was 
the  custom  of  the  Church,  the  mother  of  God. 

The  "  Monophysites  "  maintained  the  single  nature 
of  Christ.  They  affirmed  that  he  was  combined  of 
God  and  man,  so  mingled  and  united  as  to  be  but  of 
one  nature. 

The  "  Eutychians,"  from  Eutyches,  abbot  of  a 
convent  in  Constantinople  in  the  fifth  century. 
These  were  a  branch  of  the  former,  expressly  opposed 
to  the  Nestorians.  They  denied  the  double  nature 
of  Christ,  declaring  that  he  was  entirely  God  previous 
to  the  incarnation,  and  entirely  man  during  incar- 
nation. 

The  "Jacobites,"  from  Jacobus,  bishop  of  Edessa 
in  Syria,  in  the  sixth  century,  were  a  very  numerous 
branch  of  the  Monophysites,  varying  but  little  from 
the  Eutychians. 

The  "  Mariamites,"  worshipping  the  Trinity  and 
regarding  the  Virgin  Mary  also  as  a  god. 

The  "  Collyridians,"  composed  chiefly  of  females. 
They  worshipped  the  Virgin  Mary  as  a  divinity, 
and  made  offerings  to  her  of  a  twisted  cake  called 
"collyris." 

The  "  Nazaraeans  "  were  a  sect  of  Jewish  Chris- 
tians who  considered  Christ  the  Messiah,  as  born  of  a 
virgin  by  the  Holy  Ghost,  and  possessing  something 
of  a  divine  nature,  but  they  conformed  in  all  other 
respects  to  the  Mosaic  law. 

The  "  Ebionites,"  from  Ebion,  a  converted  Jew 
who  lived  in  the  first  century,  were  also  a  sect  of 
Judaizing  Christians.  They  believed  Christ  to  have 
been  a  pure  man,  one  of  the  greatest  prophets,  but 
denied  that  he  had  any  existence  previous  to  his 
birth. 


164  BEN  BEOR. 

There  were  many  other  divisions,  such  as  the 
"  Corinthians,"  "  Maronites,"  and  "  Marcionites," 
who  took  their  names  from  pious  and  zealous  lead- 
ers. There  were  also  the  "Docetes"  and  "Gnos- 
tics," subdivided  into  various, branches,  with  subtle 
enthusiasts  for  their  heads.  Some  of  .these  asserted 
the  immaculate  purity  of  the  Virgin  Mary;  the 
"Docetes"  asserted  that  Jesus  was  of  a  nature 
entirely  divine,  that  a  phantom,  a  mere  form  without 
substance,  was  crucified,  and  that  the  crucifixion,  as 
well  as  resurrection,  were  deceptive  mystical  exhi- 
bitions for  the  benefit  of  the  human  race. 

The  "  Carpocratians,"  " Basilidians,"  and  "  Valen- 
tinians,"  named  after  the  Egyptian  controversialists, 
contended  that  Christ  was  merely  a  wise  and  virtuous 
mortal,  the  son  of  Joseph  and  Mary,  selected  to 
reform  and  instruct  mankind,  but  that  a  divine 
nature  was  imparted  to  him  at  the  maturity  of  his 
age. 

True,  all  these  schisms  were  later  on  declared 
heretical,  but  at  this  time  were  in  full  sway  and 
agitated  fiercely  in  the  Church. 

Mahomet,  with  a  zeal  and  aptitude  unparalleled, 
had  himself  instructed  by  learned  Hebrews  and 
Christians  amply  as  to  their  tenets  before  he  declared 
his  mission,  and  collated  from  all  these  divers  prin- 
ciples what  he  considered  with  great  shrewdness  and 
wisdom  best  and  most  fitted  for  the  people  whom  he 
intended  to  convert. 

At  the  head  of  his  holy  book  called  the  Koran, 
composed,  collated  and  delivered  at  various  epochs  of 
his  stirring  career,  stood  the  plain  and  by  his 
countrymen  easily  understood  and  readily  accepted 
dogma : — 

"  There  is  but  one  God  !  and  Mahomet  is  his  prophet !  " 
"  La  illaha  il  Allah  !    Mahomet  resoul  Allah  ! "  , 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  165 

The  best  and  choicest  of  the  Old  and  New  Testa- 
ments and  the  Talmud  were  selected  by  him  for  a 
moral  and  ethical  code,  adapting  these  to  the  lan- 
guage and  mode  of  thought  of  Arabians,  and  adding 
thereto  such  customs  and  ceremonies  as  he  might 
cull  from  observances  already  existing,  and  which 
were  deeply  ingrafted  in  the  life  of  his  people.  He 
also  changed  the  seat  of  highest  Divine  residence 
from  Jerusalem  to  Mecca,  and  enjoined  annual  pil- 
grimages to  this  new  sanctuary.  Almost  the  entire 
dietary  ordinances,  especially  abstinence  from  the 
meat  of  swine,  were  adopted  from  the  Mosaic  law. 
The  drinking  of  wine  was  forbidden.  The  Abra- 
hamitic  rite,  performed  at  the  age  of  thirteen  years, 
was  already  in  general  observance. 

Under  these  anomalous  conditions,  the  founder  of 
this  new  faith,  with  his  impetuosity  and  exceptional 
good  fortune,  would  have  swept  the  entire  Gentile 
world  before  him,  had  he  not  been  checked  to  some 
extent  by  a  great  obstacle.  This  consisted  in  the 
fierce  opposition  of  the  Jews,  who  exerted  an  exten- 
sive influence  over  the  country.  Added  to  this  was 
a  dark  flaw  in  the  moral  character  of  the  prophet, 
consisting  of  an  insatiable  concupiscence,  amounting 
to  mania.  No  young  and  comely  woman  could  with 
any  safety  to  her  chastity  approach  the  lecherous 
libertine  without  falling  a  sacrifice  to  his  lust. 

He  and  his  army  of  followers  in  the  course  of  an 
exciting  career  brought  up  at  last  before  the  nearly 
impregnable  fortress  of  Khaibar.  He  had  pub- 
licly vowed  that  her  walls  should  be  razed  to  the 
level  of  the  ground,  that  her  large  Hebrew  popula- 
tion should  either  accept  the  religion  of  Islam  or  be 
exterminated;  but  most  of  all,  that  the  renowned 
Jewish  beauty,  Zainab,  whose  fame  for  comeliness 
and  grace  filled  all  the  East,  should  be  added  to  his 
victories  over  the  female  world.  She  had  been 


166  BEN  BEOK. 

chosen  for  her  beauty,  grace  and  comely  modesty  as 
first  maid  of  honor  to  the  queen  of  the  small  empire, 
Safiaya,  the  wife  of  the  king,  Ibu  al  Kabi.  This 
queen,  young  and  fair  herself,  had  a  most  envious 
and  ambitious  disposition,  which  manifested  itself 
by  cruel  treatment  of  her  fair  attendant,  in  whom 
she  saw  a  powerful  rival  in  the  eyes  of  the  men,  with 
whom  she  managed  to  have  at  all  times  some  love 
intrigue,  despite  of  her  nativity,  in  which  such  follies 
were  strangers,  degrading  her  high  position  as  first 
lady  of  the  land.  The  indulgent  husband,  as  usual, 
occupied  as  he  was  with  the  great  cares  of  the  realm, 
learned  last  of  her  shortcomings,  although  they  were 
the  subject  of  public  gossip.  Especially  was  the 
queen  jealous  of  her  maid's  betrothed.  Early  in  life 
Zainab  had  been  engaged  according  to  Israelitish 
custom,  and  was  shortly  to  be  wedded  to  her  distant 
relative  Marhab.  This  distinguished  and  remarkable 
man  had  become  the  wealthiest  as  well  as  the  most 
powerful  of  all  his  tribe.  Of  a  giant  stature,  sym- 
metrically formed;  a  round,  finely-shaped  head 
covered  with  long  dark  hair ;  a  broad  forehead ; 
somewhat  small,  coal-black  piercing  eyes;  an 
aquiline  nose,  a  full  and  smiling  mouth,  immense 
chest  and  shoulders,  long  powerful  arms  on  which  the 
veins  and  muscles  stood  out  like  cords — such  was  the 
imposing  appearance  of  this  modern  Hebrew  Samson, 
the  renowned  leader  and  chief  of  the  defenders  in 
and  about  the  citadel,  now  besieged  by  the  Mahom- 
etans. Their  great  prophet,  roused  to  frenzy  by 
a  defeat  which  he  had  sustained  at  the  hands  of  the 
citizens  in  holy  Mecca,  who  refused  admittance  to 
him  and  his  followers  on  their  annual  pilgrimage  to 
the  sacred  shrine,  the  Ca-aba,  determined  to  vent  his 
anger  upon  the  Jews.  These  had  ever  opposed 
him  in  his  progress.  He  charged  that  they  were 
instrumental  in  causing  his  defeat  and  humiliation, 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  167 

which  greatly  dampened  and  checked  the  ardor  of 
his  disciples.  Besides  this,  Khai'bar  had  become  a 
place  of  refuge  for  many  enemies,  who  made  them- 
selves obnoxious  to  his  ambition.  Therefore  had 
he  vowed  that  the  city  must  fall.  In  the  beginning 
of  the  seventh  year  of  his  first  flight  from  Mecca, 
July  16,  622  A.  D.,  from  which  period  the  Mussul- 
men  count  the  advent  of  the  new  religion,  and 
which  is  called  "  The  Hegira,"  the  resentful  expe- 
dition started  against  the  far-off  country,  which 
lay  one  week's  journey  north-eastward  from  the 
camp.  The  invading  army  was  small  but  select, 
twelve  hundred  foot-soldiers  and  two  hundred  horse. 
With  these  were  the  brave  division-leaders,  Abu 
Becker,  Omar,  and  quite  a  number  of  select  officers 
known  to  be  steadfast  and  reliable. 

Before  they  departed  I  had  joined  their  religion 
and  army.  Presenting  powerful  credentials  from 
many  of  the  most  celebrated  crowned  heads  of  Europe, 
I  was  received  by  the  Prophet  with  open  arms,  con- 
verted publicly  amidst  great  pomp  and  ceremonies 
to  the  faith ;  received  the  name  of  Ali  among  the 
Orientals,  and  as  a  special  honor  was  invested  with 
the  command  of  one  of  the  principal  divisions  of  the 
army.  Using  every  means  at  my  command  with 
the  utmost  liberality,  especially  during  the  long,  hot 
and  dry  journey  toward  our  destination,  I  cunningly 
provided  comforts  for  the  much-suffering  troops, 
and  became  soon  a  great  favorite  and  a  powerful 
leader,  securing  no  less  by  tact  than  by  guile  the 
friendship  and  personal  confidence  of  Mahomet,  who 
repeatedly  called  me  to  his  council  of  war  and 
intrusted  me  with  his  plans  and  future  prospects. 

At  length  we  entered  the  fertile  territory  of  our 
foes.  Then  we  began  the  campaign  by  assailing 
the  inferior  castles  with  which  the  country  was 
studded.  Many  of  these  surrendered  without  a 


168  BEN  BEOR. 

struggle.  The  spoils  being  considered  "  gifts  from. 
Allah,"  were  appropriated  by  the  Prophet.  Places 
of  more  strength  and  defended  with  stouter  hearts 
were  taken  by  storm.  Soon  we  reached  Khai'bar, 
facing  the  apparently  impregnable  citadel  called 
Al  Kamus.  It  was  built  according  to  the  best 
known  methods  of  fortifications,  stood  upon  the 
pinnacle  of  a  steep  rock,  and  had  been  garrisoned 
by  trusted  defenders.  Such  confidence  was  placed 
in  the  reputed  strength  of  the  place  that  the  king, 
Ibu  al  Rabi,  had  deposited  here  in  secreted  recesses 
an  immense  treasure. 

One  fine  autumn  morning,  when  all  nature 
breathed  peace,  ripe  plenty  and  spiritual  content- 
ment, we  came  in  sight  of  the  strong  and  frowning 
walls.  On  beholding  the  towering  obstacles  in  our 
way,  all  the  fierce  passions  and  the  fiery  hatred  of 
Mahomet's  soul  broke  forth.  In  front  of  us  there 
lay  scattered  a  number  of  boulders.  Springing  upon 
one  of  the  largest  of  these,  the  prophet  threw  himself 
upon  his  face ;  his  two  standard-bearers,  one  with  the 
image  of  the  Sun,  the  other  with  the  Black  Eagle, 
stood  by  his  side.  Then  on  his  knees  he  uttered 
in  most  vehement  tones  and  gestures  this  prayer : 

"  O  Allah !  Lord  of  the  seven  heavens  and  of  all 
things  which  they  cover ;  Lord  of  the  seven  earths 
and  all  \vhich  they  sustain ;  Lord  of  the  evil  spirits 
and  of  all  whom  they  lead  astray ;  Lord  of  the  winds 
and  of  all  whom  they  scatter  and  disperse:  we  sup- 
plicate Thee  to  deliver  into  our  hands  this  city  and 
all  that  it  contains  and  the  riches  of  all  its  lands.  To 
Thee  we  look  for  aid  against  this  people  and  against 
all  the  perils  by  which  we  are  environed." 

Now  raisins;  himself  erect  he  exclaimed:  "This 
stone  upon  which  I  stand  shall  be  holy  for  all  times 
to  come,  equal  to  the  Ka-aba  of  Mecca.  Its  name 
be  known  as  the  Mansela.  Let  the  faithful,  while 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  169 

we  dwell  here,  make  daily  seven  circuits  around  it. 
If  we  conquer — as  we  shall — a  mosque  is  to  be 
erected  on  this  spot,  a  splendid  memorial  for  having 
supported  the  feet  of  the  Prophet,  and  be  it  forever 
a  sacred  object  of  veneration  to  all  pious  believers 
in  Al  Koran." 

Amidst  deafening  huzzahs  and  shouts  of  "Allah-il 
Alla-ha !  "  the  siege  immediately  commenced.  Ma- 
homet was  everywhere;  but  at  first  neither  his 
undaunted  courage  nor  that  of  the  army  availed 
much.  They  had  as  yet  no  great  experience  in  the 
attack  of  fortified  places,  especially  when  defended, 
as  was  this,  by  brave  and  skilled  warriors,  stubbornly 
resisting  all  efforts  for  advantage.  Worst  of  all, 
the  assailing  troops  suffered  much  from  want  of  pro- 
visions, since  they  had  brought  with  them  no  great 
quantity  of  supplies.  The  Jews  on  the  approach  of 
their  foes  had  laid  waste  the  level  country  and 
destroyed  everything  that  could  afford  food  or  shelter 
around  their  capital. 

Trenches  were  immediately  dug,  the  work  going 
on  day  and  night.  Battering  rams  were  constructed 
with  infinite  labor  and  trouble,  which  as  soon  as  in 
position  played  incessantly  upon  the  walls.  A  breach 
at  last  was  effected,  but  every  attempt  to  scale  the 
fortifications  and  enter  was  repelled  with  bloody 
sacrifices.  Abu  Becker  led  one  assault ;  he  had  been 
intrusted  with  the  standard  of  tfie  Prophet.  In 
spite  of  every  brave  effort,  which  continued  for 
hours,  his  storming  party  was  defeated  and  he  was 
compelled  to  retreat.  Omar  fought  all  next  day, 
with  the  same  result  and  still  greater  losses.  Dis- 
may and  faintheartedness  spread  in  the  ranks,  and 
many  counseled  the  abandonment  of  the  fatal  efforts. 

Now  I,  who  had  thus  far  kept  myself  in  the  back- 
ground, saw  that  my  chance  had  come,  and  stepped 
boldly  before  the  chief.  "Intrust  me  with  one 


170  BEN  BEOR. 

fair  trial,"  I  cried,  "  and  my  head  may  pay  the  for- 
feit if  we  do  not  overcome  these  accursed  Hebrew 
sons  of  Belial."  I  was  clad  that  day  in  a  scarlet 
vest,  over  which  was  buckled  a  cuirass  of  steel. 
With  robust  and  square  form,  speaking  of  prodigious 
strength,  a  healthy  florid  countenance,  surrounded 
by  a  bushy  beard,  and  eyes  all  glittering  with  zeal 
and  fire,  I  must  have  made  an  imposing  impression 
upon  my  chief.  He,  looking  proudly  and  confidingly 
upon  my  stalwart  person,  took  from  the  belt  his  own 
renowned  scimeter,  named  the  "  Dhu'l-Fakar,"  and 
handed  it  to  me  with  the  sacred  banner  of  the  golden 
Sun.  ('  Take  these  and  meet  our  enemies.  I  here 
pronounce  thy  title,  '  Lion  of  the  Lord/  a  man  who 
loves  Allah  and  his  Prophet  and  whom  Allah  and  his 
Prophet  love.  Know  no  fear,  nor  turn  thy  back 
upon  our  foes !  " 

Thus  blessed  and  adjured,  I  forthwith  called  my 
troops  together,  and  without  delay  led  the  perilous 
attack.  We  scrambled  up  the  great  heaps  of  stones 
and  rubbish  in  front  of  the  breach,  and  I  planted 
the  holy  standard  on  top.  The  Jews  sallied  forth  to 
drive  back  the  bold  assailants.  In  the  conflict 
which  now  ensued  I  met  hand  to  hand  with  their 
commander,  Al  Rabi.  With  the  irresistible  strength 
of  my  right  arm,  and  the  holy  sword  I  cut  him  in 
two  with  one  stroke.  As  he  fell  dead  at  my  feet  the 
giant  Marhab  sprang  forth  to  avenge  his  death.  He 
was  armored  in  a  double  cuirass,  upon  his  head  a 
double  turban,  wound  around  a  helmet  of  proof,  in 
front  of  which  sparkled  an  immense  diamond.  A 
sword  was  girded  on  each  side,  and  he  brandished  a 
three-pronged  spear  like  a  trident.  Now  we  ap- 
proached each  other ;  the  battle  on  both  sides,  as  if 
by  a  mutual  consent,  came  to  a  sudden  halt.  All 
eyes  were  directed  towards  the  ensuing  combat. 

"I,"  cried  the  Jew,  "am  Marhab,  armed  at  all 
points  and  terrible  in  battle ! " 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  171 

Then  I  responded,  "  I  am  All,  whom  his  mother 
at  birth  surnanied  <A1  Hai'dara/  the  rugged  lion." 

Now  the  Jewish  champion  made  a  fearful  lunge  at 
me  .with  his  tridentr  but  with  great  dexterity  I  par- 
ried the  stroke,  and  before  he  could  recover  himself 
a  ponderous  stroke  from  the  scimeter  "Duh'l- 
Fukar"  clove  through  his  buckler,  passed  through 
the  helmet,  reaching  his  stubborn  skull,  riving  in 
twain  his  head  even  to  the  teeth.  His  gigantic  form 
fell  lifeless  to  the  earth. 

The  Jews,  on  beholding  the  unexpected  and  fatal 
defeat  of  their  vaunted  heroes,  with  shrieks  and  cries 
of  despair  retreated  quickly  and  in  great  disorder  to 
the  citadel.  Our  entire  force  now  joined  my  troops 
and  a  general  assault  followed.  In  the  heat  of  action 
the  brazen  shield  which  I  carried  on  my  arm  was 
severed  from  its  hinges,  conspicuously  exposing  my 
body  to  attack.  Instantly  and  with  superhuman 
strength  I  wrenched  part  of  a  gate  from  its  fastenings 
and  used  it  as  a  buckler  through  the  remainder  of 
the  fight.  It  was  a  prodigious  feat,  at  which  those 
of  my  men  nearest  to  me  looked  in  utter  consternation 
and  surprise. 

During  this  fierce  struggle  two  women  might  have 
been  seen  as  eager  and  anxious  spectators,  watching 
the  progress  of  the  combat  from  a  window  of  the 
royal  palace.  From  what  I  learned  afterward  I  can 
readily  imagine  their  emotions  and  excited  appear- 
ances, caused  by  diametrically  opposite  motives. 
Each  one  represented  a  type  of  feminine  character,  as 
unlike  to  the  other  as  possibly  can  be  described. 
One  was  the  Queen  Safiya,  tall,  dark  and  proud. 
Smarting  under  a  great  insult  and  indignity  received 
but  a  few  hours  ago  at  the  hands  of  her  royal 
husband,  she  stood  there  in  a  tremor  of  anticipation, 
her  coal-black  eyes,  like  those  of  an  angered  serpent, 
watching  the  course  of  events,  a  personification  of 


172  BEN  BEOR. 

deathly  hatred  and  thirst  for  revenge.  She  had  long 
since  been  suspected  of  treasonable  sympathies  with 
the  approaching  foes.  Report  had  pictured  to  her 
vivid  imagination  the  new  Prophet  as  a  great  hero 
and  woman-worshipper.  She  was  impatient  to  have 
him  come,  conquer  the  country,  and  be  in  return  con- 
quered by  her  wiles  and  fascinations.  Unguarded 
expressions  of  this  nature  had  reached  the  king. 
On  this  self-same  morning  she  related  to  him, 
already  burdened  with  care  and  trouble,  her  dream 
of  the  previous  night,  and  told  him  of  her  vision 
in  which  the  sun  descended  from  the  firmament 
and  with  all  his  glory  and  refulgence  nestled  in  her 
own  yearning  bosom.  So  exasperated  and  angry 
was  the  king  at  these  words  that  he  struck  her  a 
fierce  blow,  exclaiming,  "Woman,  thou  speakest  in 
a  despicable  parable.  This  Arab  chief  now  seeks 
our  destruction."  Crazed  by  such  affront,  there  she 
stood,  glorying  and  rejoicing  in  the  turn  affairs  had 
taken,  the  unnatural  creature  beholding  with  delight 
the  fall  of  Israel's  foremost  leaders  and  the  defeat 
of  her  nation's  defenders. 

The  woman  standing  next  to  her  was  Zainab,  the 
espoused  of  Marhab.  Lithe,  small  in  stature,  her 
opaline  eyes  flashing  with  the  emotions  of  love  and 
virgin  affection,  were  riveted  upon  the  scene  of  our 
combat.  What  harrowed  feelings  must  have  agi- 
tated her  grief-stricken  mind  as  she  witnessed  the 
terrible  defeat  of  her  adored  lover !  It  is  in  evidence, 
as  given  by  her  companion  later  on,  that  as  she  saw 
him  fall,  with  convulsively  clenched  hands  she  tore 
her  hair,  her  eyes  unnaturally  dilated,  her  whole 
form  trembled,  and  without  uttering  a  word  flew 
like  one  demented  from  the  scene. 

Meanwhile  we  captured  the  citadel.  In  the  ranks 
of  the  Jews  confusion  and  consternation  had  joined 
bloody  hands.  We  quickly  overtook  the  dismayed 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  173 

garrison,  and  death  stalked  riot  among  the  doomed 
citizens.  The  carnage  which  now  ensued  was  awful. 
My  men  had  captured  six  hundred  archers  and 
rock-throwers ;  they  were  given  over  to  the  sword. 
Similar  slaughter  was  everywhere  enacted.  Yet  it 
was  strange  and  utterly  inexplicable  at  the  time  what 
became  of  the  immense  number  of  inhabitants  whom 
we  knew  had  taken  refuge  here.  They  had  disap- 
peared as  if  by  magic.  Years  afterwards  were  found 
numerous  subterranean  passageways,  cut  through 
the  solid  rocks,  by  which  the  fugitives  escaped, 
taking  with  them  their  wives,  children,  treasures, 
valuable  horses  and  camels.  They  escaped  safely  to 
the  Pyrenseic  peninsula,  on  the  extreme  southwestern 
boundary  of  Europe,  to  the  countries  called  Portugal 
and  Spain.  There  they  formed  the  accursed  settle- 
ments which  in  centuries  to  come  were  to  give  me 
again  such  endless  troubles  and  labors. 

Towards  evening  Mahomet  himself  entered  with 
great  pomp  and  martial  music  the  captured  city,  and 
without  loss  of  time  occupied  the  deserted  palace. 
He,  and  in  fact  all  of  us,  were  nearly  famished,  not 
having  partaken  of  any  food  for  the  last  twelve 
hours.  It  was  well  for  us  that  the  siege  was  ended. 
A  few  dusky  Ethiopians  were  found  in  the  kitchen, 
and  they  were  commanded  at  once  to  prepare  a 
plentiful  meal.  It  took  not  much  persuasion  to 
make  the  trembling  wretches  act  as  bidden,  and 
in  a  very  short  time  the  table  was  spread.  Among 
the  not  over-plenty  viands,  a  well-browned  and 
steaming  shoulder  of  a  lamb  was  the  most  inviting 
dish.  All  this  had  been  accomplished  and  super- 
vised by  the  direction  and  under  management  of  a 
deeply  veiled  Arabian  woman. 

As  the  company  sat  down  to  eat  she  stood  screened 
in  an  alcove  of  the  dining  hall.  Baschar,  the  first 
body-officer  of  our  chief,  had,  as  was  required  of 


174  BEN  BEOR. 

him  by  ceremony,  cut  a  small  morsel  of  the  meat, 
chewed  and  swallowed  it,  and  handed  another  to 
Mahomet,  who  brought  it  eagerly  between  his  teeth. 
Suddenly  through  the  main  portal  rushed  Queen 
Safiya,  with  all  the  gestures  of  terror  and  dismay, 
and  grasping  the  arm  of  the  Prophet  shrieked  out : 
"  For  the  love  of  the  Lord  do  not  swallow  it,  for  it 
is  death ;  yon  stands  the  poisoner !  "  and  her  hand 
pointed  to  the  woman  in  the  hidden  recess. 

Quickly  spitting  out  the  meat,  he  declared  to  have 
heard  the  same  warning  miraculously  issue  from  the 
very  morsel  which  he  lately  held  between  his  lips. 
We  all  were  startled  and  terrified  to  behold  Baschar 
drop  to  the  ground  in  great  convulsions,  foaming  at 
the  mouth,  while  blood  issued  like  a  fountain  from 
his  nostrils,  ears  and  eyes.  He  died  in  great  agony. 
The  woman  in  hiding  was  now  dragged  forth.  As 
she  stood  in  front  of  us  all,  she  violently  drew  aside 
her  veil  and  cried  out,  "  I  am  Zainab,  the  avenger  of 
my  people  and  family!  I  thought  if  thou  wert 
indeed  a  Messiah  thou  wouldst  discover  thy  danger; 
if  but  a  chieftain,  thou  wouldst  fall  and  we  should 
be  delivered  from  a  tyrant !  " 

Every  one  stood  awed  and  silent.  Mahomet  had 
risen,  clasping  with  both  hands  his  chest,  where  the 
most  excruciating  pains  racked  him.  By  this  time 
the  effects  of  the  poison  had  entered  his  system, 
and  it  troubled  him  at  certain  periods  throughout 
the  rest  of  his  life.  But  the  most  dumbfounded  of 
all  present  was  I,  beholding  the  face  of  the  girl.  It 
seemed  like  a  vision.  Are  these  features  and  is  this 
form,  in  one  or  the  other  transformation,  to  haunt 
me  throughout  my  whole  blasted  career  ?  That  was 
Merris — Merris,  my  first,  my  only  love,  risen  from 
the  dark  past,  and  as  it  seemed  from  her  never- 
closing  tomb.  From  these  racking  imaginations  I 
was  startled  by  the  rushing  forth  of  one  of  our 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  175 

officers,  the  brother  of  the  dead  Baschar.  Like  a 
tiger  he  sprang  upon  the  woman,  and  before  any  one 
could  speak  or  prevent  his  deed  he  stabbed  her 
through  the  heart.  She  sank  lifeless  at  his  feet. 
Mahomet  was  very  angry  and  indignant,  for  he 
admired  courage  and  heroism,  especially  in  so  fair  a 
creature,  though  his  mortal  enemy.  Yet  the  fatal 
blow  was  given,  and  nothing  remained  for  us  to  do 
but  to  make  cautious  and  careful  preparations  for 
the  night  and  our  future  safety. 

Safiya  had  accomplished  her  wicked  purpose.  Of 
very  great  and  fascinating  beauty,  having  saved 
the  life  of  the  Prophet,  it  is  no  wonder  that  she 
found  favor  in  his  eyes.  She  was  converted  with 
indecent  haste  to  the  faith  of  Islam  and  married  to 
Mahomet  before  we  even  left  Khai'bar.  She  became 
one  of  the  most  favored  of  his  wives,  being  no  doubt 
congenial  in  her  wiles  and  graces  to  his  similar  dis- 
position. She  survived  him  in  widowhood  forty 
years  after  his  long  and  eventful  life. 

Soon  afterwards,  under  some  plausible  pretense, 
I  left  the  army  and  the  East,  to  the  great  regret 
of  my  Prophet- Chief  and  his  followers.  Loaded  with 
honors  and  marks  of  distinction  and  rewarded  by 
great  treasures,  I  crossed  the  Hellespont  and  returned 
to  my  wanderings  in  the  Transalpine  lands,  where 
my  agents  long  since,  as  they  informed  me  by  mes- 
sengers, clamored  for  my  return. 


PHANTASMAGOKIA  XI. 

THE   LAST   OF   THE   KHAZARS. 

It  was  now  the  middle  of  the  tenth  century. 
Brutal  ignorance  and  beastly  drunkenness  should  by 
this  time  have  done  their  debasing  work  of  riveting 


176  BEN  BEOR. 

the  chains  of  serfdom  so  tightly  around  the  necks  of 
the  masses,  that  tyranny  and  priestcraft  might  deem 
themselves  absolutely  secure.  Vain  calculation, 
that  sees  in  humanity  only  the  baser  passions,  and 
ignores  in  this  terrible  imaginations  the  better  and 
higher  impulses  implanted  by  an  Omnipotent  power 
in  the  hearts  of  even  the  meanest  of  the  race.  Such 
was  the  lesson  of  disappointment  which  I  once  more 
experienced  in  my  attempted  work  of  destruction 
against  Freedom,  Truth  and  Tolerance. 

While  the  elements  and  agencies  of  cruel  persecu- 
tion were  making  greatest  headway  among  the 
governments  of  the  Western  continent,  and  while 
the  natives  had  universally  attached  themselves  to 
Christianity,  amidst  the  signs  of  approaching  storms 
there  came  a  report  from  one  of  the  Eastern  realms 
which  overthrew  all  preconceived  schemes  which  I, 
Ben  Beor,  had  formulated. 

With  the  utmost  cunning  I  had,  immediately  on 
my  return  from  Arabia,  incited  against  the  irrepres- 
sible and  ever-increasing  Jewish  population,  whose 
flourishing  congregations  now  sprang  up  everywhere, 
the  jealousy  and  envy  of  their  neighbors,  especially 
the  tradesmen  and  farmers.  It  w  as  easy  to  make  these, 
who  owed  to  the  Semitic  merchants  money  and  chat- 
tels, look  upon  the  Hebrews  as  usurers  and  defraud- 
ers.  Still  more  facile  was  the  task  of  proving  to  the 
bigoted,  priest-ridden  rabble  that  the  Jews  were  the 
foes  of  their  church,  the  veritable  descendants  of 
the  "Christ-killers."  Reveling  in  anticipation  of 
the  early  success  of  my  plots  against  the  abhorred 
followers  of  Mosaism,  some  of  their  tribe  returning 
from  a  trading  expedition  near  the  far-off  Ural 
mountains,  brought  from  there  the  stunning  news 
that  they  had  discovered  a  colony  of  Finland  Kos- 
sacs,  the  wild  inhabitants  of  the  steppes  near  the 
river  Volga.  This  whole  clan,  some  hundred  years 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  177 

ago,  turned  from  heathenism  to  the  covenant  of 
Abraham.  They  had  in  course  of  time  converted 
large  numbers  of  adjacent  tribes,  forming  a  great  and 
powerful  government,  a  kingdom  of  Jews,  under  the 
benignant  and  liberal  rule  of  a  sovereign  beloved 
and  adored  by  all  his  subjects  and  feared  and 
respected  by  the  neighboring  princes.  Their  king, 
Joseph,  as  was  his  name,  had  adopted  a  policy  of 
sheltering  and  protecting  refugees  from  persecution, 
irrespective  of  creed  or  country,  and  in  so  doing 
exercised  the  most  tolerant  liberality  towards  all, 
no  matter  of  what  religion  or  belief,  who  came  to 
dwell  in  his  flourishing  dominions,  the  realm  of  the 
Khazars. 

The  returned  travellers  stated  further  that  while 
passing  through  a  province  called  Bulgaria,  they 
were  assailed  by  the  inhabitants  and  a  number  of 
the  company  captured  and  imprisoned,  the  rest  of 
the  caravan  escaping  with  great  danger  and  peril  to 
life  and  goods.  On  reaching  the  Hebrew  capital, 
called  the  "  White  City,"  which  was  magnificently 
situated  on  the  borders  of  the  river  Volga,  they, 
under  the  leadership  of  their  revered  Rabbi,  Jacob 
ben  Eleasar,  of  Nemez,  were  conducted  to  the  golden 
tent  and  into  the  presence  of  the  "Chagan,"  the 
royal  "Joseph  the  Ruler/'  Rabbi  Jacob  was  the 
bearer  of  a  highly  important  parchment  scroll, 
intrusted  to  him  by  his  friend  and  colleague,  the 
celebrated  Spanish  ambassador,  statesman  and  stud- 
ent, Rabbi  Chasdai  Ibn  Shaprut,for  delivery  to  King 
Joseph.  This  document,  after  many  vicissitudes 
and  trials,  reached  at  last  its  destination.  It  is 
of  great  historical  value,  showing  the  ever-alive 
and  interwoven  interests  which  all  these  stiff-necked 
Israelites  feel  for  one  another.  The  contents  of  this 
parchment,  from  a  copy  in  the  possession  of  the 
travellers,  and  which  now  is  before  me,  are  therefore 


178  BEN  BEOR. 

reproduced  here.  It  is  written  in  beautiful  Hebrew 
prose,  translated  by  me  as  follows : 

"Having  learned  from  reliable  reports  of  the  exist- 
ence of  your  royal  dynasty  and  government,  I  have  at 
endless  pains  endeavored  to  obtain  a  thorough  knowledge 
of  its  truth  and  extent.  It  is  not  from  idle  curiosity 
and  ambition  that  I  have  made  these  efforts,  but  from  the 
burning  desire  to  know  whether  there  is  a  spot  on  earth 
where  our  people  are  free  from  tyrants.  Were  I  sure 
that  such  is  a  reality  I  would  disregard  my  high  posi- 
tion at  the  throne  of  my  exalted  sovereign,  and  leave  wife 
and  children,  wandering  over  valleys  and  mountains,  by 
land  or  water,  till  I  could  throw  myself  prostrate  before 
the  throne  of  a  ruler  in  Israel,  rejoicing  at  his  might 
and  admiring  his  greatness. 

"Deign  to  tell  me  in  response,  when  these  lines  reach 
thy  sovereign  hands,  from  which  of  the  lost  ten  tribes 
your  renowned  'Khazars '  have  their  origin.  Describe  to 
me  their  present  political  and  warlike  attitude,  especially 
also  whether  your  armies  fight  on  the  holy  Sabbath,  and 
whether  you  -use  in  your  intercourse  the  sacred  language 
of  our  ancestors.  JVo  less  let  me  know  if  there  is  pre- 
served among  you  a  tradition  concerning  the  coming  of 
our  Messiah.  For  the  cup  of  suffering  of  our  people  is 
overflowing,  and  we  must  doMy  bear  the  taunts  of  the 
Gentiles.  Every  nation  has  its  own  autonomy  ;  only 
we  are  like  fugitives  and  vagabonds  all  over  this  globe. 
But  should  it  now  prove  true,  as  may  be  the  will  of  the 
Lord,  that  there  exists  an  independent  ruler  in  thy  high 
person,  and  a  sovereign  government  among  thy  people, 
the  Hebrew  nation,  then  may  all  Israel  once  more  raise 
its  bowed  head  and  need  no  longer  stand  humiliated  and 
dumb  before  its  adversaries." 

King  Joseph  was  rejoiced  on  receiving  the  mes- 
sage, and  caused  his  chief  scribe  to  answer  the  same 
in  full  and  in  the  Hebrew  language.  It  being  also 
a  document  of  intrinsic  historical  value,  an  excerpt 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  179 

thereof,  which  is  made  from  a  copy  clandestinely 
obtained  by  me,  is  appended  hereto.  It  says : 

"  I,  the  Chagan,  ruler  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Khazars, 
have  received  with  great  joy  the  autograph  message  of  my 
Spanish  brother,  the  renowned  Rabbi  Chasdai.  Thou 
art  mistaken  to  believe  that  my  people  were  primevally  of 
Jewish  origin.  Our  great  ancestor — may  his  memory 
be  blessed  ! — the  immortal  Bulan,  a  great  Khan  of  the 
Finland  Kossacs,  conceived  an  unconquerable  disgust 
against  the  barbarous  heathenism  of  his  race,  and  with 
the  help  and  inspiration  of  the  great  Jehovah,  after 
many  trials  and  temptations,  preferred  to  accept  for 
himself  and  nation  the  religion  of  Moses  and  the 
Prophets.  In  this  a  learned  Rabbi  by  name  of 
Isaac  Sangan  had  greatly  assisted,  and  with  his  piety 
and  honorable  conduct  prevailed.  I  am  the  eleventh  of 
a  glorious  line  of  kings.  My  dominion  reaches  from 
the  Ural  to  the  Kaspi  Sea,  and  many  other  provinces 
are  subject  to  my  sceptre.  The  entire  country  is  suc- 
cessfully worked  by  the  husbandmen  and  herders,  blessed 
with  commerce  and  trade.  Concerning  the  Messianic 
hope,  which  I  share  with  thee  and  our  whole  people,  we 
hei*e  in  my  realm  know  nothing  definite.  Our  eyes  are 
directed  towards  the  holy  temple  to  be  rebuilt  in  Jei*u- 
salem,  and  the  renowned  schools  of  Babylonia.  May 
it  please  the  God  of  our  fathers  soon  to  send  us  his 
Redeemer. 

"Thou  speakest  of  thy  great  desire  to  see  me  face  to 
face.  I  reciprocate  this  as  an  ardent  wish  of  my  soul. 
Then  shouldst  thou  be  to  me  like  unto  a  father,  and  I 
would  be  thy  son,  who  willingly  might  share  with  thee  the 
care  and  management  of  this  government." 

This  answer,  chirographed  on  finest  vellum,  and 
enclosed  in  a  silver  capsule  of  masterly  workman- 
ship, was  handed  for  return  to  Rabbi  Jacob.  That 
pious  man  failed  not  to  relate  to  King  Joseph  the 
outrages  which  the  caravan  had  received  and  the 


180  BEN  BEOR. 

imprisonment  of  companions  still  held  in  Bulgaria. 
The  king  raged  when  he  learned  of  this  cruel 
perfidy.  He  forthwith  sent  swift  messengers  to  the 
Bulgarians,  demanding  the  immediate  release  of  the 
Jewish  prisoners,  and  an  official  treaty-stipulation 
for  the  safety  and  fair  treatment  of  all  his  co- 
religionists dwelling  there  or  passing  through  as 
travellers;  threatening  in  case  of  refusal  to  kill 
every  non-Israelite  under  his  rule,  and  that  he  would 
send  his  army  into  a  land  which  maltreated  inof- 
fensive persons.  The  aggressive  barbarians,  nomi- 
nally Christians,  knowing  the  power  and  bravery  of 
the  mighty  neighbor,  well  aware  that  his  threats 
were  not  empty  words,  quickly  complied  with  the 
peremptory  demand ;  sent  back  the  prisoners  loaded 
with  presents,  and  a  written  treaty  stipulating  peace 
and  friendship  forever  with  the  descendants  of  Abra- 
ham, Isaac  and  Jacob. 

I  was  dumbfounded  on  learning  this  news  and  its 
consequential  extent.  Here  I  had  deemed  myself 
secure  in  the  final  result  of  a  scheme,  fostered  for 
centuries,  to  extirpate  the  last  trace  of  that  tenacious 
monotheism  and  its  laws  for  the  disenthralment  of 
the  nations,  when  this  report  woke  me  rudely  from 
my  sanguine  expectations.  1  resolved  that  such  a 
spectre  must  be  destroyed,  no  matter  at  what  sacri- 
fice. My  numerous  agents  all  over  the  lands,  the 
dealers  in  the  ardent  beverage,  the  fanatical  priest- 
hood, and  the  lynx-eyed  spies  of  the  governments, 
were  soon  informed  of  the  impending  danger;  of 
the  absolute  necessity  of  my  immediate  departure 
for  the  scene  of  destructive  action,  and  of  the  un- 
conditional policy  to  be  pursued  by  all  of  them 
during  my  unavoidable  absence,  for  holding  in  check 
our  wary  opponents. 

Does  it  not  seem  strange  that  a  handful  of  beings, 
not  more  than  one  per  cent,  in  the  aggregate,  should 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  181 

give  us,  the  rest,  such  anxiety,  care  and  trouble?  Yet 
so  it  has  been  since  their  departure  from  Egypt,  and 
I  fear  me  so  it  will  be  to  the  end  of  time. 

And  now  after  careful  and  deliberate  prepara- 
tions I  departed  without  further  delay  to  the  East. 
The  highest  prelate  of  the  church  had,  on  my 
representations  and  request,  readily  appointed  me  as 
a  nuncio.  The  Emperor  of  Germany  commissioned 
me  as  a  special  envoy  to  the  several  principalities 
lying  at  the  centre  of  my  mission. 

Thus  equipped,  I  reached  after  many  difficulties 
and  hardships  the  barbarian  court  of  Sviatoslaf. 
This  prince  had  lately  become  of  age  and  received 
from  his  mother  Olga  the  throne  and  realm  as  "  Tsar  " 
over  the  southern  part  of  Eussia,  adjacent  to  Bul- 
garia, and  near  the  land  of  the  Khazars.  They 
resided  at  the  keep  of  Novgorod,  a  rude  castle  in  the 
midst  of  a  number  of  villages  of  clay-built  huts. 
Here  a  strange  state  of  affairs  prevailed.  The 
"Tsarina,"  widow  of  the  late  powerful  ruler,  Igov,  had 
been  regent  for  several  years,  until  her  son  reached 
his  majority.  This  Scandinavian  woman  had  held 
sway  over  her  people  with  a  powerful  hand.  By 
the  strength  and  adroitness  of  her  character,  as 
well  as  the  vindictiveness  of  her  disposition,  she 
soon  became  the  terror  of  her  many  enemies  and  the 
feared  ruler  of  her  dominions.  But  she  was  glad 
when  the  time  arrived  that  she  could  lay  down  the 
lance  and  buckler,  which  she  had  donned  during 
the  regency,  and  confide  the  care  of  her  ever-turbulent 
state  to  the  firmer  hands  of  her  son,  the  legitimate 
successor  to  the  throne.  She  had  personally  watched 
over  his  physical  and  mental  training,  and  he  proved 
to  be  the  very  image  of  his  dead  father.  Proud  as 
only  a  mother  can  be  of  a  son,  her  idol  and  ideal, 
she  had  him  crowned  and  laid  the  sceptre  confidingly 
into  his  hands.  She  longed  and  sighed  for  peaceful 


182  BEN  BEOR. 

days.  I  found  her  yet  in  the  prime  of  womanhood, 
handsome  and  commanding,  the  admiration  of  her 
male  subjects  and  worshipped  by  the  females.  Under- 
lying a  harsh  and  stern  aspect  there  was  a  fine 
sympathetic  strain  of  loveliness  and  goodness,  that 
made  it  easy  for  me  to  find  favor  in  her  eyes  and 
influence  especially  her  religious  feeling.  Tired  as 
she  was  long  ago  with  the  coarse,  vulgar  Slav- 
heathenism,  she  soon  became  the  first  Northern 
woman  who  joined  as  a  convert  the  Christian  religion. 
For  this  purpose  I  accompanied  her  on  a  special 
tour  to  the  imperial  capital,  the  city  of  Tsar  gar  d, 
residence  of  the  Tsar  of  the  Greeks,  where  she  was 
baptized  by  the  Primate  of  the  East,  the  Emperor 
Porphyrogenitus,  himself  acting  as  godfather,  be- 
stowing upon  her  the  illustrious  name  of  Helen. 
On  our  return  home  this  change  of  faith  was  much 
ridiculed  and  laughed  at  by  the  boorish  clans  and 
her  unimpressible  son.  Several  violent  scenes  took 
place  at  the  palace  when  she  endeavored  to  persuade 
Sviatoslaf  to  follow  her  example  and  become  a 
Christian.  The  young  and  self-willed  monarch  was 
entirely  under  the  influence  of  a  magician  and 
jester,  Odin,  whose  coarse  and  vulgar  wit  and 
arrogant  pretensions  were  combined  with  the  most 
subtle  finesse,  native  sense  of  human  nature,  and 
an  instinctive  foresight  and  penetration  into  causes 
and  effects  concerning  the  state-affairs  of  his  mighty 
master. 

One  day  Odin,  pretending  to  catch  flies  from  the 
wall  and  executing  funny  capers  during  this  foolish 
pastime,  which  set  us  all  laughing,  suddenly  wheeled 
round,  and  with  a  most  ludicrous  squint  started 
towards  the  company  seated  at  the  table.  When 
behind  the  Tsar  he  snatched  the  golden  crown  from 
the  imperial  head  and  placed  his  bell-cap  in  its  place. 
"  There ! "  he  cried,  "  thou,  master,  wilt  make  a  better 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  183 

fool  than  thy  servant,  and  I  will  do  better  as  a  ruler. 
I  will  at  least  not  let  the  first,  best  strolling  foreigner 
tweedle  me  into  his  pockets  and  make  sport  behind 
my  back."  I  felt  my  cheeks  flush  at  these  pointed 
shafts  hurled  at  me,  but  the  Tsar  good-naturedly 
turned  the  sally  adroitly  off,  and  throwing  the  tin- 
seled cap  at  the  fool's  feet,  declared  that  he  had 
heard  of  a  story  before  wherein  a  "  donkey  had 
worn  a  crown."  "Take  it  back,  then,"  stuttered 
the  bright  jester,  placing  quickly  the  jeweled  head- 
gear respectfully  on  his  master's  head,  but  the 
back-side  in  front,  giving  an  appearance  wrhich 
made  even  the  most  discreet  persons  shout  with 
laughter,  he  moving  his  hands  and  fingers  dexter- 
ously in  such  a  manner  as  to  actually  throw  the 
shadow  of  an  ass  conspicuously  upon  the  wall. 
"Now  let  the  stranger  bring  his  Madonna  and  his 
Saviour,"  he  continued,  "and  when  they  sprinkle 
thee  with  their  holy-water,  as  they  cajoled  our 
empress-mother,  it  will  turn  thy  ancestral  faith, 
and  we  all  will  be  changed  into  bald-headed 
monks." 

With  a  lightning-like  motion  Odin  caught  the 
baretta  from  my  skull,  exposing  to  view  my  well- 
tonsured  crown,  which  caused  the  most  hilarious 
uproar,  in  which  even  the  Tsar  joined.  Quiet, 
however,  was  restored  very  soon  upon  the  announce- 
ment of  the  arrival  of  three  eminent  ambassadors 
from  neighboring  Bulgaria,  who  requested  an  imme- 
diate audience.  Queen  Olga  was  sent  for  to  be 
present  at  the  interview,  to  hear  what  messages  these 
unexpected  guests  should  bring. 

"  We  come,"  said  their  leader,  a  stalwart,  fine  and 
noble-looking  man,  "from  the  far-off  city  of  Kief, 
to  bring  from  our  sovereign  greeting  and  friendship 
to  thee,  all-powerful  ruler  of  the  dominions  of  the 
Russ.  We  are  commissioned,  if  it  so  shall  find 


184  BEN  BEOR. 

pleasure  in  thine  eyes,  to  negotiate  a  treaty  against 
our  mutual  enemy,  the  Khazars,  whose  insolent 
powers  are  a  standing  menace  to  our  borders,  and 
who  have  on  several  occasions  offered  insult  and 
outrage,  in  spirit  of  haughty  overbearing,  to  all  their 
neighbors,  but  especially  against  us,  the  people  of 
Bulgaria.  They  are  Jews,  foes  to  God  and  men, 
and  should  therefore  be  exterminated  from  the  face 
of  the  earth.  Hence,  if  it  so  be  thy  will,  let  us  unite 
our  armies,  make  war  on  these  malefactors,  and 
divide  their  cities,  lands  and  spoils  between  us.  In 
this  we  will  gladly  acknowledge  thee  our  superior 
and  become  faithful  vassals  to  thy  power.  We  await 
thy  gracious  and  favorable  answer." 

They  now  were  permitted  to  retire.  In  the  con- 
sultation which  ensued,  by  command  of  the  Tsar, 
my  views  on  the  subject  were  asked  first  and  fore- 
most. By  sophistical,  yet  no  less  lucid  and  powerful 
terms,  I,  as  may  be  expected,  urged  the  advisability, 
nay,  the  necessity,  of  complying  with  the  request.  I 
explained  that  it  was  contrary  to  the  best  interests 
of  his  majesty's  realm,  especially  needing  and  seek- 
ing an  outlet  into  the  Caspi,  to  permit  so  powerful  a 
rival  to  exist  and  most  likely  to  extend  its  already 
growing  dominions;  morever,  that  a  singular  and 
fantastic  religion  which  they  professed,  and  which 
they  continually  and  successfully  propagated  among 
the  ignorant  and  unwary  hordes  of  the  mountains, 
seducing  them  from  ancient  faiths  and  creeds,  should 
no  longer  be  permitted  to  rule  supreme. 

Here  the  Queen  broke  fiercely  and  passionately 
in  :  "  They  have  crucified  the  Saviour  of  the  world ! 
Gentile  and  Christian  should  combine  to  fulfil  *the 
curse  which  is  forever  on  their  heads  until  the  last 
of  the  race  is  killed." 

His  majesty  seemed  powerfully  aifected  by  the  in- 
tensity of  feeling  and  dramatic  pathos  with  which 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  185 

these  words  issued  from  the  lips  of  a  woman  and 
mother.  He  however  turned  abruptly  to  the  jester, 
inquiring,  "  What  has  my  fool  to  say  concerning  all 
this?" 

"  We  are  bears,"  he  growled,  "and  the  monkeys 
have  come  to  help  them  catch  the  wily  fox,  these 
Jews.  Why  should  we  disturb  our  peace,  quiet  and 
comfort,  to  fight  a  distant  people  because  they  sing  a 
different  tune  from  ours  when  they  are  praying?  I 
have  learned  that  they  raise  many  and  fine  swine, 
but  never  eat  any  hog's  meat.  Does  not  this  make 
it  plenty  and  cheap  in  the  market  ?  They  punish 
their  own  flesh  to  enter  into  the  covenant  of  their 
religion.  WTell,  is  not  this  better  than  if  they  pun- 
ished mine?  They  are  said  to  be  a  smart  lot;  we 
cannot  make  peace  with  them  in  the  manner  in 
which  thou,  my  worshipped  lady,  fooled  the  stupid 
louts  of  Korosthenes,  thy  enemies.  We  all  remem- 
ber that  thou  didst  offer  them  terms  on  payment 
of  three  pigeons  and  three  sparrows  for  each  house. 
Having  received  them,  there  was  tied  lighted  tow  to 
the  tails  of  the  birds,  and  then  they  were  set  free  to 
fly  straight  back  to  their  homes.  Houses  and  barns 
with  thatched  roofs  instantly  took  fire.  Had  I 
aught  to  say  I  would  send  these  messengers  back  to 
their  master,  and  let  my  troops  directly  follow  on 
their  heels,  to  teach  those  boors  a  lesson  which  they 
would  not  soon  forget,  for  attempting  to  ensnare  us 
into  their  cunning  wiles.  Look  ye,"  and  here  he 
danced  round  and  round  with  strange  gesticulations 
and  mystic  movements,  a  sign  that  the  pretended 
spirit  of  prophecy  was  coming  upon  him.  Then  he 
leaped  upon  the  dais  before  the  Tsar,  and  was  soon 
fearful  to  behold.  He  screamed  out  his  words, 
foaming  at  the  mouth.  "Have  you  heard  of  the 
Patzmacks,  the  savages,  the  most  ferocious  of  all 
barbarians,  who  are  worse  than  wild  beasts  ?  They 


186  BEN   BEOR. 

dwell  in  the  land  beyond  the  realm  of  the  Khazars, 
where  they  are  held  in  check  by  Jewish  swords. 
Destroy  this  barrier  and  the  cannibals  will  come 
and  eat  our  wives  and  children.  Lo,  I  see  them 
with  blood-dripping  mouths  and  frenzied  eyes! — 
there  they  come,  come,  come !"  His  voice  failed  him, 
his  strength  was  exhausted,  and  he  fell  senseless  to 
the  ground. 

The  Tsar  and  his  mother  left  the  place.  This 
was  the  signal  for  the  end  of  the  council.  A  few 
mornings  after,  however,  the  ambassadors  departed 
with  rich  presents  for  themselves  and  their  king, 
escorted  by  a  guard  of  honor  and  the  written  stipula- 
tions for  a  treaty  securely  stored  in  their  kaftans. 
The  Tsarina  had  prevailed.  Everything  now  be- 
came bustle  and  noise  with  military  preparations. 
Insidiously  my  work  went  on.  Very  soon,  in  every 
tent,  a  drink  made  its  appearance,  which  the  people 
called  "  Votki."  Sparingly  at  first,  just  enough  to 
rouse  the  fighting  spirit  of  these  hordes  to  the  highest 
pitch,  but  plenty  was  provided  for  the  time  when 
battle  and  carnage  were  to  rage,  to  make  these  already 
wild  people  nearly  on  a  par  with  the  man-eating  Patz- 
macks.  Henceforth  "Votki"  was  to  become  the 
bane  and  curse  of  the  whole  Russian  Empire,  as  it 
had  already  proved  among  the  Western  nations. 
Shortly  after  \ve  were  on  the  march.  Queen  Olga 
at  home  resumed  her  office  as  regent  during  the 
absence  of  her  son.  Odin  was  found  to  be  hope- 
lessly insane.  I  joined  the  commander  as  one  of  his 
leading  camp-companions.  Each  clan  was  arrayed  in 
its  own  fantastic  dress  and  armor,  under  leadership 
of  a  "Hetman"  chosen  by  his  own  tribe.  All, 
however,  were  splendid  and  daring  troopers,  seated 
upon  small  but  sturdy  chargers,  often  executing  in 
the  spirit  of  playful  bravado,  astonishing  feats  of 
arms  and  horsemanship. 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  187 

In  due  course  of  time,  after  continued  travel 
attended  by  numerous  difficulties,  we  joined  our  wait- 
ing allies.  These  consisted  mostly  of  foot-soldiers, 
provided  with  all  kinds  of  arms — swords,  battle- 
axes,  bows  with  poisoned  arrows,  and  curiously  con- 
structed sling-shots  which  they  used  with  great  dex- 
terity and  effect.  One  notable  feature  of  their  army 
consisted  of  a  large  body  of  exceptionally  tall  and 
robust-looking  Amazons,  who  proved  themselves 
even  fiercer  and  braver  fighters  in  battle  than  the  men. 

After  a  short  rest  and  fraternization  with  the  new 
comrades,  on  went  the  invading  host  under  chief 
command  of  Sviatoslaf,  tirelessly  pushing  forward 
towards  the  land  of  the  unsuspecting  and  unwarned 
Jews.  Passing  a  few  weeks  in  tramping  through  the 
rough  and  unbroken  country,  we  reached  at  last  the 
outskirts  of  the  kingdom  of  the  Khazars.  Here  a 
short  halt  was  made;  then  the  whole  mass  threw 
itself  with  irresistible  impetuosity  upon  the  land. 
In  our  wake  was  blood  and  death.  Slain  men, 
women  and  children  strewed  our  path.  Nothing 
living  was  spared.  "Sheol"  let  loose  on  earth 
could  not  present  a  more  appalling  sight  than  the 
horrible  scenes  which  we  left  behind  our  troops.  On 
the  first  news  reaching  King  Joseph,  he  made  ready 
for  a  brave  resistance  and  defense  of  homes  and 
country.  Unfortunately  for  him,  his  military 
strength  consisted  mostly  of  hireling  Moslems, 
strong  and  dauntless  generally,  but  with  no  heart 
in  the  impending  struggle.  No  sooner  became  they 
aware  of  the  terrible  battles  awaiting  them,  than 
they  were  panic-stricken  and  fled  in  dismay,  a  dis- 
banded rabble  of  cowed  Arabians.  So  the  poor  king 
saw  himself  helpless  and  abandoned  and  at  the  utter 
mercy  of  the  approaching  destroyers.  Yet,  with  the 
courage  of  a  hero,  he  effected  the  safety  of  large 
numbers  of  his  hapless  subjects,  by  directing  and 


188  BEN  BEOR. 

speeding  their  precipitous  flight,  great  numbers 
reaching  the  Balkan  mountains,  and  from  there 
passing  over  to  different  countries  in  all  directions. 
Others  made  for  the  seashore,  luckily  finding  several 
ships,  and  reaching  friendly  ports  of  the  Mediterra- 
nean. Within  a  week  we  came  to  the  suburbs  of  the 
"  White  City."  Exultingly  we  stormed  the  doomed 
capital,  feasting  in  jubilant  expectation  on  the  havoc 
to  be  made  upon  our  dismayed  prey.  As  we  ap- 
proached, to  our  surprise,  suddenly  little  flickers  of 
flame  issued  here  and  there  from  the  several  quarters 
of  the  town.  Then  a  mass  of  fire  enveloped  the 
centre,  where  the  royal  golden  tent  was  situated, 
and  presently  the  most  awful  conflagration  ensued, 
wherein  the  irrepressible  columns  of  towering  blazes 
shot  heavenwards,  lighting  up  the  sky  for  miles,  and 
throwing  the  scorching,  blinding  heat,  cinders  and 
ashes,  directly  into  our  faces.  I,  myself,  with  a  few 
other  braves,  had  pressed  forward  to  the  king's 
abode,  and  reached  there  just  in  time  to  see  the  fire 
make  its  first  headway  upwards.  From  inside, 
through  all  the  uproar  and  turmoil,  we  heard  dis- 
tinctly the  voices  of  the  inmates  in  prayerful  song. 
One  of  these,  a  tremulous  strong  basso,  was  heard 
above  all  the  rest.  The  words,  repeated  over  and 
over,  came  fainter  and  fainter  as  if  from  the  dying, 
yet  to  the  last  pronounced  with  easily  understood 
intonations : 

"  Hear,  O  Israel,  the  Lord  our  God  is  but  One — 
Jehovah  alone  is  God !" 

Disappointed  and  chagrined,  we  left  for  a  place 
of  shelter  and  safety. 

Such  was  the  fall  of  the  much-vaunted  Hebrew 
dominion  and  sovereignty,  and  thus  miserably  ended 
"the  Last  of  the  Khazars." 

The  prophecy  and  curse  of  the  magician  Odin, 
however,  soon  became  a  fearful  truth.  While  the  cruel 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  189 

destruction  of  a  cultured  and  civilized  nation  went 
on  unsparingly,  and  carnage  and  fire  raged  rampant 
over  a  lately  flourishing  and  beautiful  land,  the 
countless  happy  homes  of  the  husbandmen  and  shep- 
herds ;  while  the  brawling  and  besotted  conquerors 
completed  their  conquest  amidst  ravage  and  ruin ; 
the  check  that  hitherto  held  the  wild  men  of  the 
woods,  the  Patzmacks,  cowering  in  their  earth-holes, 
was  broken.  The  half-naked  wretches  issued  forth 
in  bands  of  ten  and  twenty,  dispersing  themselves 
over  the  country,  festering  with  the  corpses  of  the 
slain ;  satiating  their  wolfish  greed  by  devouring 
the  carrion.  It  was  the  most  sickening  and  revolt- 
ing sight  imaginable,  as  they  were  tearing  with  their 
bird-like  claw -nails  pieces  of  the,  already  decomposed 
human  bodies,  munching  over  them  with  the  ferocity 
of  hyenas.  Soon,  however,  they  grew  bolder,  attack- 
ing and  killing  stragglers  of  our  people.  They  were 
just  cunning  and  wily  enough  to  place  themselves 
successfully  outside  of  the  reach  of  chastisement, 
being  familiar  with  every  nook  and  corner  of  the 
districts,  whither  they  hurriedly  fled  on  the  approach 
of  the  least  danger. 

Then  they  combined  in  larger  numbers  for  the 
horrible  work  under  a  most  audacious  leader,  and 
not  a  day  passed  now  that  in  one  or  the  other  camp, 
signal  evidences  of  their  fatal  presence  were  not 
visible.  They  showed  themselves  utterly  callous 
and  indifferent  to  death,  and  at  no  time  could  any 
be  taken  prisoners;  for  when  escape  and  flight 
became  impossible,  with  lightning-like  rapidity  they 
thrust  sharp  flint  assigais  into  their  breasts,  after 
which  they  almost  immediately  expired.  Incessantly 
the  abhorrent  outrages  went  on,  until  at  last  the 
aborigines  appeared  at  the  very  doors  of  the  city  of 
Kief.  No  such  terror  and  dread  ever  before  shook 
soldiers  and  people.  The  country  which  heretofore  had 


190  BEN  BEOR. 

resounded  with  pious  prayers  and  melodious  psalms, 
was  now  given  over  to  every  conceivable  misery, 
devastation  and  ruin  which  the  human  mind  is 
capable  of  imagining.  Jew,  Gentile  and  Christian 
were  alike  and  equally  punished  by  this  overwhelm- 
ing disaster,  the  beastly  visitation  from  the  cannibal 
Patzmacks. 


PHANTASMAGORIA  XII, 

PETEK   THE  HEKMIT. 

It  was  now  the  year  1078.  I  had  attained  my 
purpose  in  destroying  the  flourishing  realm  of  the 
Khazars;  was  tired  out  with  the  sickening  details, 
and  disgusted  with  the  coarse  brutal  people  who  had 
acted  as  my  confederates  and  allies. 

At  the  earliest  opportunity  I  made  some  conven- 
ient and  plausible  excuse  and  took  my  departure 
with  my  too  willing  servants,  who  had  also  grown 
tired  of  their  surroundings.  We  made  our  way  to 
the  nearest  port  of  the  Black  Sea,  designing  to  return 
to  the  Western  lands  by  water.  Thus  we  reached 
Odessa,  as  yet  a  primitive  settlement  of  fishermen 
and  sailors.  This  place  was  already  known  to  be  a 
fine  harbor,  where  a  great  many  ships  from  every 
clime  landed  to  discharge  their  cargoes  and  exchange 
them  for  such  products  as  the  many  nationalities 
dwelling  along  this  section  would  offer  for  barter. 
A  magnificent  bay  is  formed  here  by  the  meeting 
of  the  large  rivers  Dniester  and  Dnieper.  A  fine 
merchantman  lay  ready  to  sail  for  Genoa,  the  great 
Italian  port.  I  and  mine  boarded  the  ship  in  a  few 
hours  after  our  arrival  at  this  point.  There  were 
no  other  passengers,  and  the  officers  and  sailors 
being  continually  engaged  with  the  difficult  naviga- 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  191 

tion  among  the  shoals  and  reefs  of  the  hazardous 
route,  we  were  left  to  ourselves  while  the  journey 
lasted.  Hardly  ever  out  of  sight  of  land,  the  coun- 
tries which  were  passed  formed  the  most  beau- 
tiful panoramas  of  semi-tropical  scenery.  In  the 
enjoyment  of  observing  these,  and  the  balmy 
atmosphere,  which  seldom  varied,  the  time  quickly 
passed,  and  before  we  expected  it,  the  grand  and 
picturesque  harbor  ^of  our  destination  came  into 
view.  It  so  happened  that  on  our  arrival  at 
Genoa  another  ship  was  about  to  depart  for  Mar- 
seilles, in  France.  My  urgent  solicitations  per- 
suaded the  captain  to  delay  long  enough  for  us 
to  go  up  to  the  city  in  order  to  purchase  such 
supplies  and  comforts  as  we  deemed  necessary  for 
the  continuation  of  the  journey.  By  evening  we 
had  already  left  the  Adriatic  and  entered  upon  the 
boisterous  Mediterranean  sea.  The  lurching  and 
heaving  vessel  was  crowded  with  all  kinds  and  classes 
of  passengers.  Among  these  were  a  large  number  of 
priests.  Judging  by  their  garbs  they  belonged  to 
the  Roman  hierarchy.  There  were  a  number  of  com- 
mon "padres,"  several  bishops  and  one  cardinal.  It 
was  amusing  to  watch  some  of  these  ogle  the  young 
women  among  the  passengers,  staring  boldly  at 
the  shy  creatures,  most  of  whom  were  exceedingly 
pretty  and  attractive  in  their  picturesque  native 
costumes.  They,  pretending  not  to  notice  the  rude 
conduct  of  the  reverend  fathers,  continually  cast 
stealthy  side-glances  at  the  audacious  admirers. 

Among  this  mixed  crew  there  was  a  cowled  monk, 
in  coarse  woolen  garb  and  sandals  to  his  feet,  who 
attracted  my  special  attention.  He  walked  inces- 
santly, fore  and  aft,  backward  and  forward,  continu- 
ally muttering  to  himself.  Of  diminutive  size  and 
mean  appearance,  his  large,  piercing  eyes  were  of 
wonderful  fire  and  brilliancy,  and  his  peculiarly 


192  BEN  BEOR. 

strange  features  spoke  of  strength  of  will  and  indom- 
itable character.  One  would  have  recognized  him 
among  thousands  a  "leader  of  men."  On  the  second 
morning  out  he  passed  me  in  his  never-ceasing 
promenade,  and  stopping  for  ari  instant,  he  looked 
me  over  with  his  dark  and  penetrating  glances,  as  if 
to  peer  into  the  very  depths  of  my  heart.  I  made 
free  to  offer  him  from  a  small  flagon  which  I  always 
carried,  a  sip  of  sherbet,  the  use  vof  which  had  become 
general,  especially  among  the  clergy.  I  had  bought 
a  supply  of  the  exhilarating  beverage,  recommended 
by  a  Genoa  merchant  as  a  certain  antidote  against 
sea-sickness,  and  had  added  to  its  ingredients  a 
good  dose  of  my  own  intoxicant.  The  Hermit,  for 
such  he  proved,  soon  became  affable  and  talkative. 
The  following  is  the  story  of  his  strange  life,  which 
he  told  me  during  the  days  of  our  now  placid  voyage 
to  Marseilles: 

"  My  name  is  Peter.  I  was  born  at  Amiens,  about 
the  middle  of  this  century.  My  parents  were  of 
high  nobility,  and,  like  many  of  their  class,  rich  in 
impoverished  estates,  but  poor  in  the  required  wealth 
necessary  to  uphold  their  station.  It  cost  them  the 
utmost  efforts  and  sacrifices  to  place  me  comfortably 
at  Paris  for  obtaining  an  education  worthy  the  son 
of  a  gentleman.  Through  my  own  efforts  obtaining 
a  livelihood  and  making  existence  possible  with 
teaching,  I  augmented  my  training  by  a  trip  to  Italy, 
from  whence  I  returned  a  short  while  after  to  my 
native  country  fully  prepared  to  join  the  army. 
The  French  were  then  engaged  in  Flanders  carrying 
on  war  against  the  Dutch.  All  my  inclinations  and 
tastes  were  those  of  a  student,  in  utter  dissonance 
with  the  rough  and  boisterous  life  of  the  carousing 
soldiery.  Proving  of  small  service  in  the  ranks,  my 
desire  to  return  home  was  not  much  opposed  by  the 
commander.  I  soon  found  myself  discharged,  and 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  193 

back  in  the  castle  of  my  sires,  which  was  falling  to 
ruins.  Near  by  us,  in  our  immediate  neighborhood, 
lived  a  wealthy  country  squire.  He  had  an  only 
daughter.  She  was  a  gaunt  and  sinister-looking  crea- 
ture. I  was  prevailed  upon  by  my  parents,  and  espe- 
cially my  mother,  whom  I  passionately  loved,  to  enter 
the  ranks  of  the  wooers  of  that  no  longer  youthful 
maiden.  A  large  number  of  such  sordid  aspirants 
for  her  gold-filled  hands  constantly  carne  and  went. 
At  last  I  was  the  successful  candidate,  and  we  were 
married  amidst  the  grand  pomp  and  parade  which 
my  father-in-law  so  dearly  cherished.  The  marriage, 
as  such  speculative  compacts  generally  turn  out, 
proved  anything  but  happy.  In  due  time  we  were 
blessed  with  two  children,  both  of  whom,  after  giving 
us  great  anxieties  and  troubles,  died  in  infancy. 
This  sad  loss  increased  the  morose  and  uncompanion- 
able character  of  my  wife ;  she  made  my  life  henceforth 
unendurable  by  humiliations  and  chagrin,  changing 
my  natural  disposition  of  hopefulness  and  good- 
humor  till  it  became  sinister  and  callous.  One  day 
when  her  scolding  and  fretting  became  unbearable 
I  fled  into  the  wilderness,  and  thenceforth  lived  in 
a  solitary  cave  far  away  from  the  habitations  of  men. 
I  provided  as  best  I  could  the  necessaries  of  life, 
and  a  few  books  which  I  had  brought  with  me, 
combined  with  daily  excursions  and  rambles,  helped 
to  pass  away  the  weary  time.  Soon  my  gray  hair 
and  beard  grew  to  abnormal  length,  and  this  with 
my  wild  aspect  and  faded  and  tattered  garments 
must  have  given  me  such  a  frightful  appearance, 
that  even  my  own  mother  would  have  failed  to 
recognize  her  son.  The  few  people  who  casually 
met  me  when  I  strayed  from  my  abode  fled  at  the 
strange  sight,  and  I  was  soon  known  throughout  the 
surrounding  country  as  l  Peter  the  Hermit/  So 
time  passed.  One  day,  late  towards  evening,  a  party 


194  BEN  BEOR. 

of  travellers  stopped  at  the  entrance  of  my  cave. 
They  were  pilgrims  returning  from  a  visit  to  the 
Holy  Land,  who  had  lost  their  way,  roaming  help- 
lessly about  since  morning,  and  were  now  entirely 
exhausted.  They  could  not,  if  they  would,  proceed 
any  further.  In  spite  of  my  reluctance  I  had  to 
become  'my  host'  to  them,  furnish  what  food 
there  was  on  hand,  and  make  them  as  comfortable 
as  my  scant  means  would  allow.  Soon  they  felt  re- 
freshed, were  sitting  upon  the  rude  logs  of  fallen  trees 
plentifully  lying  near  us  on  the  leaf-strewn  ground. 
The  evening  was  beautiful.  A  big,  bright,  silvery 
moon  shed  her  light  through  the  open  spaces,  making 
the  scene  as  clear  as  day.  Myriads  of  stars  twinkled 
merrily  through  the  boughs.  The  strangers  told 
me  of  their  journey,  and  depicted  the  sufferings,  trials 
and  inhuman  hardships  which  they  and  every  visitor 
to  Jerusalem  had  to  undergo  at  the  hands  of  the  merci- 
less Mussulman.  Their  story  seemed  almost  beyond 
credence.  The  whole  fiery  enthusiasm  of  my  sensi- 
tive nature  awoke,  and  I  determined  then  and  there 
to  satisfy  myself  upon  the  far-away  spots  if  such  atro- 
cities were  offered  to  the  Christians  in  search  of  the 
places  where  our  Messiah  had  lived  and  suffered,  and 
these  inhumanities  perpetrated,  too,  by  the  hands  of 
the  infidel  Arabians.  Next  morning  I  departed  with 
my  guests,  conveying  them  to  my  former  home.  No 
persuasion,  however,  could  induce  them  to  tarry,  and 
they  left  me  without  entering  the  castle.  Here  I  found 
everything  changed.  My  parents  and  wife  hud  died 
some  time  ago.  The  estates  were  in  the  hands  of  a 
keeper,  one  of  my  old  servants.  He  barely  would 
believe  me  when  I  told  him  who  I  was,  since  the 
report  had  gotten  abroad  that  the  heir  had  gone  to 
some  foreign  land.  It  did  not  take  long  to  satisfy 
him  of  my  identity,  after  which  he  shed  copious 
tears  for  joy  of  having  found  his  old  master.  With 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  195 

his  own  hands  he  trimmed  my  long  beard  and  hair, 
prepared  a  bath  for  thorough  ablutions,  and 
brought  from  my  former  wardrobe  such  of  my  gowns 
as  I  favored  to  wear.  Dressing  myself  in  these  for 
the  time  being,  I  now  declared  to  him  my  resolution 
to  join,  as  soon  as  my  worldly  affairs  were  settled, 
the  holy  monks  in  the  abbey  near  by.  My  financial 
matters  were  in  splendid  condition.  The  large  funds 
accrued  from  the  inheritance  of  my  late  wife  had 
been  well  cared  for  by  the  courts,  and  I  found  no 
difficulty  with  the  magistrates  in  having  the  money 
turned  over  to  me,  its  rightful  claimant.  As  soon 
as  these  matters  were  brought  to  a  successful  com- 
pletion, I  applied  to  the  superior  of  the  cloister  and 
found  ready  admittance  as  a  novice  in  the  order. 
After  undergoing  the  prescribed  ordeals  and  acquir- 
ing the  necessary  knowledge,  I  was  formally  admitted 
as  a  member  of  the  Benedictines,  taking  the  vows  of 
poverty,  abstinence  and  sacerdotal  devotion.  Per- 
mission was  asked  and  granted  me  for  a  pilgrimage 
to  the  Holy  Land,  and  I  started  out  soon  on  my 
self-imposed  mission,  to  learn  by  personal  observation 
the  truth  of  the  reports  related  to  me  by  the  travellers 
who  visited  me  when  a  hermit.  From  the  time  I 
landed  in  Asia  my  experiences  were  terrible  indeed. 
Inhumanity,  atrocity,  and  cruelty  some  barbarous 
hands  of  the  brutal  and  greedy  Saracens  visited  upon 
my  poor,  inoffensive  person.  The  requests  for  food 
of  our  small  band  of  pious  travellers  were  generally 
answered  with  blows  rained  upon  our  heads  and 
backs.  When  approaching  the  springs  or  wells  to 
satisfy  our  burning  thirst,  we  were  driven  away  with 
kicks,  and  the  very  children  taunted  us  as  '  cursed 
dogs  of  Franks.7  On  many  occasions  we  barely 
escaped  being  murdered  in  broad  daylight.  The 
vaunted  hospitality  of  the  East  seemed  entirely  to 
have  died  out,  as  fur  as  regarded  the  sojourners  from 


196  BEN  BEOR. 

Christendom.  The  most  extraordinary  cunning  and 
double-faced  ness  was  used  by  the  heathens  to  lure 
us  from  the  right  direction  on  our  journey,  not  only 
at  our  inquiries  concerning  the  nearest  and  best 
roads,  but  blandly  offering  their  advice  unasked  and 
unsolicited.  How  many  unwary  and  unsuspecting 
sojourners  they  may  have  drawn  into  ambush  and 
either  killed  or  sold  into  slavery  will  never  be  known. 
Open  violence  against  our  lives  and  liberty  they 
dared  not  attempt,  as  we  were  provided  with  a 
special  protective  firman  from  the  highest  authorities 
at  Constantinople.  This  shielded  us,  however,  in  no 
instance  against  the  indignities  and  brutalities  to 
which  we  were  continually  exposed.  Our  backs  and 
bodies  were  bloody  and  raw  from  being  scourged. 
We  looked  emaciated  and  like  skeletons  from  hunger 
and  thirst  long  before  we  reached  Jerusalem.  With 
gnashing  teeth  and  boiling  blood  I  recorded  and  re- 
peatedly reiterated  a  solemn  vow  to  Heaven,  that  if  life 
and  strength  were  spared  me,  never  to  rest  until  the 
high-road  to  Calvary  should  be  safe  to  pious  wan- 
derers ;  never  to  rest  until  the  Holy  Land,  now  defiled 
by  the  accursed  Ishmaelites,  should  be  in  possession 
of  the  great  rulers  of  Christendom.  Soon  after  my 
arrival  in  the  holy  city  I  presented  myself  before  the 
venerable  patriarch  of  Jerusalem,  and  laid  before  him 
well-matured  plans  for  the  delivery  of  Palestine. 
With  fervent  paternal  blessing,  he  assured  me  of 
his  entire  approval  of  my  prospective  mission,  and 
furnished  me  with  autograph  letters  of  highest 
recommendation  and  endorsement  to  his  Holiness 
Pope  Urban  II.,  the  most  aifable,  powerful  and 
enthusiastic  Vicar  of  God  who  ever  occupied  the 
august  chair  of  St.  Peter.  I  hurried  back  as  fast 
as  circumstances  would  permit  to  Europe,  and  in 
less  than  three  months  presented  myself  in  Rome  at 
the  Vatican.  Here  a  very  cordial  and  gracious 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  197 

reception  was  accorded  me,  and  I  was  permitted 
before  a  conclave  of  the  highest  church  dignitaries  to 
recite  with  the  fervor  and  eloquence  burning  in  my 
heart  and  soul  the  shame  and  indignity  which  dis- 
graced the  Catholic  world,  and  the  foul  persecutions 
and  dire  cruelties  practiced  unmolested  and  una- 
venged against  devout  members  of  the  faith  by 
the  haughty  and  merciless  Turk.  With  the  unani- 
mous approval  of  the  cardinals  and  bishops  I  was 
commissioned  by  the  holy  father  to  proceed  on  my 
sacred  errand,  to  preach  deliverance  of  the  land  of 
the  Lord  throughout  all  the  countries  faithful  to 
the  Cross.  Some  of  the  ecclesiastics  on  board  the 
ship  had  been  witnesses  of  these  proceedings  and 
were  ordered  to  assist  in  my  work.  But  they  are  an 
indolent,  worthless  set,  an  unpromising  material 
with  which  to  co-operate.  Yet  it  is  the  best  at 
present  available.  As  soon  as  we  shall  reach  our 
destination  I  will  make  France  and  all  Europe  ring 
with  the  story  of  the  sufferings  of  Christian  pilgrims, 
and  bring  every  knight,  lord  and  prince  into  the 
warfare  for  the  crucifix.  From  hut  to  palace,  in 
the  highways  and  byways,  will  go  forth  the  cry 
to  arms,  and  the  emblem  of  the  Saviour's  army,  the 
cross  on  the  shoulders,  will  be  pinned  on  by  millions 
of  the  people,  the  high  and  the  low,  the  rich  and  the 
poor.  Then  the  countless  legions  of  the  brave  Cru- 
saders will  soon  be  on  the  road  to  conquer  'the 
land  of  promise.7  Now  you  know  my  story  and 
errand.  May  I  beseech  you  to  join  my  cause,  with 
your  splendid  head  and  strong  arm?  I  need  valiant 
and  true  associates.  Permit  me  to  decorate  your 
garb,  as  the  very  first  convert  I  have  made,  with 
this  cross,  the  insignia  by  which  hereafter  the  con- 
federates of  the  holy  war  will  be  known,  and  by 
which  they  will  recognize  each  other.  Hereby  I  ap- 
point you  commander  of  the  first  legion  which  I  may 


198  BEN  BEOR. 

gather  to  take  the  field  for  conquering  Palestine.  I 
see  the  hand  of  Providence  for  the  success  of  my 
gigantic  enterprise  in  having  found,  even  before 
landing,  one  in  whose  bravery,  fidelity  and  zeal  I 
have  almost  at  first  sight  an  instinctive  and  absolute 
trust."  Here  ended  the  story  of  Peter  the  Hermit. 

He  took  from  the  capacious  inside  pocket  of  his 
garb  a  bright  red  cross  of  woolen  stuff  and  dexter- 
ously fastened  it  on  my  coat.  I  did  not  resist,  for 
during  his  long  recital  I  had  conceived  vast  plans  fit- 
ting my  own  purposes.  Their  realization  and  im- 
mense possibilities  seemed  to  loom  up  as  certainties 
in  coalition  with  such  unexpected  and  unforeseen 
agencies  as  the  fanatic  efforts  of  this  inspired  monk. 
I  made  myself  known  to  him  as  "  Count  William, 
a  travelling  builder/'  promised  him  every  aid  and 
co-operation  in  my  power,  placing  my  means  and 
services  at  his  entire  disposal,  and,  with  the  usual 
way  of  new  converts,  proved  equally  zealous  for  the 
success  of  the  newly  espoused  cause.  We  became 
almost  inseparable  during  the  rest  of  our  journey, 
and  conld  daily  be  seen  walking  the  deck  together, 
gesticulating  and  arguing  in  most  lively  and,  no 
doubt,  often  grotesque  manner,  to  the  great  amuse- 
ment of  the  other  passengers. 

Among  the  motley  crowd  of  the  ship's  company  I 
had  noticed  nearly  from  the  start  a  small  group 
of  people,  who  kept  themselves  isolated  from  the 
others,  generally  retiring  to  some  remote  corner.  It 
consisted  of  a  young  man  not  over  forty-five  years 
of  age,  an  older  one,  not  quite  three-score,  and  a 
young  and  most  beautiful  maiden,  seated,  generally, 
between  the  two.  There  was  no  mistake  about  it, 
features  and  manners  revealed  them  to  be  Jews. 
Both  men  wore  skull-caps ;  the  younger  was  other- 
wise dressed  in  the  s-pruce  French  fashion,  had  an 
unusually  bright  and  intelligent  face,  surrounded  by 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  199 

a  wealth  of  dark,  long  carls.  His  eyes  were  exceed- 
ingly brilliant,  especially  when  (he  mobile  features 
were  at  play  while  discoursing  with  the  others.  He 
generally  held  a,  medium-sized  leather-covered  vol- 
ume between  his  fingers,  at  which,  from  time  to 
time,  he  glanced,  as  if  for  reference.  The  elder  wore 
a  long  kaftan  of  fine  material,  fastened  by  an  em- 
broidered sash.  He  was  very  tall  and  well  formed. 
His  hair  and  long,  flowing  beard  were  plentifully 
sprinkled  with  the  silver  of  age.  giving  him  a  distin- 
guished and  venerable  air.  But  the  appearance  of 
both  males  was  completely  eclipsed  by  the  radiant 
beauty  of  the  girl,  who  sat  gracefully  between  them. 
The  complexion  of  her  face  was  of  that  light,  creamy 
color,  upon  which  the  pink  of  carnation  lay  delicately 
spread  as  if  by  the  hand  of  a  master-artist;  the  long, 
black  hair  resembled  in  gloss  and  color  that  of  the 
older  man ;  brilliant  eyes,  overshadowed  by  finely- 
pencilled  brows;  a  nose  daintily  and  exquisitely 
moulded  ;  deep  red,  magnificently  rounded  lips  cov- 
ered a  row  of  pearly  teeth.  Faultlessly  attired  in 
rich  ievantine  silk  garments,  which  fitted  closely  to 
her  upper  body,  she  had,  usually,  an  open  scroll  upon 
her  lap ;  her  tiny  hands  wielding  a  quill,  which  she 
ever  and  anon  dipped  in  the  silver  ink- vessel  held 
by  the  elder  companion,  while  she  wrote  the  dicta- 
tions of  the  younger  man.  Nor  was  this  mechanical 
work  only;  for,  as  her  shell-like,  little  ears  caught 
the  •  sentences  from  the  dictator,  she  often  threw  a 
quick,  intelligent  and  surprised  look  at  him,  and 
then  glanced,  with  eyes  speaking  admiration  and 
wonderment,  at  the  elder,  nodding  her  shapely  head 
in  such  a  bewitching  manner  that  no  one  could  mis- 
take the  meaning,  saying  more  distinctly  than  words: 
"  What  do  you  think  of  this  ?  "  Unlike  all  my  for- 
mer feminine  subjects  of  admiration,  there  was  some- 
thing in  tho  spiritual  make-up  of  this  girl  which 


200  BEN  BEOR. 

reminded  me  at  first  sight  of  the  shadow-vision, 
lurking  ever  in  my  memory — the  never-forgotten 
Merris,  princess  of  Egypt.  With  mystic,  magnetic 
power  I  felt  drawn  towards  this  lovely  maiden, 
raising  in  me  a  whirl  of  passion,  longing  and  heart- 
ache. And  while  pacing  up  and  down,  listening  to 
the  tale  of  the  Hermit,  I  caught  myself  frequently 
wandering  to  where  she  sat.  Peter  must  have 
noticed  this  too,  for  on  several  occasions,  when 
gazing  intently  upon  that  group,  he  asked  me,  "  What 
is  the  matter  ?  do  you  feel  sick?  "  or,  "  Do  you  hear 
what  I  say?  "  Nor  was  I  the  only  one  of  the  pas- 
sengers to  whom  these  people  became  the  absorbing 
centre  of  attraction.  Reading  and  writing  were,  in 
those  days,  such  strange,  uncommon  arts,  and  the 
possession  of  a  book  so  unusual  a  prize,  that  the 
illiterate  priests  who  were  with  us  aboard,  and  who, 
besides  their  litany  and  missals,  knew  little  of  any 
other  learning,  viewed  those  Hebrew  travellers  with 
looks  of  stupefied  amazement,  their  lustful  eyes 
gloating  from  a  distance  upon  the  fresh,  exquisitely 
beautiful  maiden  who,  unheard  of  in  all  their  experi- 
ence, wieLled  the  pen  like  an  expert.  I  instinctively 
recognized  the  cursed  book  as  the  younger  man  raised 
it,  from  time  to  time,  to  his  vision — the  maledicted 
Pentateuch,  with  its  laws  for  human  Right,  Freedom 
and  Fraternity.  Nor  could  I  help  reflecting  upon 
the  beastly  ignorance  permeating  most  classes  of  all 
society  everywhere — everywhere,  while  these  off- 
springs of  Mosaism  had  learning — aye,  even  their 
young  daughters  could  read  and  write  their  damned 
"  holy  language."  They  made  it  one  of  the  highest 
religious  ambitions  to  multiply  the  copies  of  the 
Bible,  and  the  brightest  and  profoundest  minds 
were  constantly  engaged  in  elucidating  its  truth 
and  power  by  commentaries  and  exegesis.  I  had 
not  a  doubt  that  these  three  wanderers  were  now 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  201 

engaged  in  some  such  work,  while  their  benighted 
fellow-passengers  passed  the  time  in  ribald  song  and 
jest,  throwing  dice  and  playing  with  pasteboard 
cards,  or  clandestinely  ogling  with  the  women. 

From  the  time  that  my  attention  and  interest  had 
been  attracted  by  these  three  strangers,  I  tried  to 
find  out  who  and  what  they  were.  Considering  their 
exclusiveness  and  reticence,  keeping  aloof  from  the 
ship's  company  altogether,  this  was  not  an  easy  task. 
Among  my  servants  there  was,  however,  a  renegade 
Jew,  one  of  those  devil-may-care,  light-headed  fel- 
lows to  whose  impudence  and  forwardness  nothing 
in  this  line  was  too  difficult  to  accomplish.  So  I 
set  this  man  to  work,  with  promise  of  a  goodly  re- 
ward for  early  and  complete  information.  How,  I 
never  learned,  but  he  soon  insinuated  himself  into 
the  good  graces  of  his  former  co-religionists.  The 
strange  and  ever-alive  affinity  and  sympathy  among 
the  race  no  doubt  facilitated  and  readily  served  his 
purpose,  and  within  a  few  days  he  was  able  to  impart 
the  following  information : 

The  young  man  was  a  widely  celebrated  rabbi 
by  the  name  of  Solomon  ben  Isaac,  known  every- 
where among  his  people  under  the  abbreviation  of 
"  Rashi."  He  was  now  returning  from  a  pilgrim- 
age of  penance,  made  through  Southern  Europe. 
His  father  Isaac,  long  since  dead,  had  been  the 
owner  and  possessor  of  a  priceless  jewel.  The  Chris- 
tian prelates  of  his  native  town,  Troy,  in  France,  de- 
manded surrender  of  the  valuable  stone  to  be  used  as 
an  eye  for  a  Madonna-image  of  their  cathedral,  offer- 
ing a  fabulous  sum  therefor.  Rather  than  have  the 
jewel  used  for  such  a  sacrilegious  purpose,  the  old  man 
fled  on  board  of  an  outgoing  ship.  But  the  priests 
were  too  quick  and  sly  for  him,  found  his  refuge, 
followed  him  out  to  sea,  took  him  prisoner,  and 
threatened  him  with  death  if  he  did  not  instantly 


202  BEN   BEOR. 

surrender  the  coveted  prize.  Then  the  pious  Jew, 
to  whom  this  was  a  matter  of  conscience,  before  his 
captors  could  prevent  it,  flung  the  treasure  into  the 
waters  of  the  sea.  By  actual  calculation  it  was 
found  that  at  the  very  instant  of  that  fanatically 
heroic  act  "  Rashi "  was  born,  and  a  common  report 
among  the  Hebrews  of  Troy  relates  that  a  voice  was 
heard  by  the  Sanhedrin  seated  in  that  town,  saying: 
"The  new-born  child  shall  be  the  lost,  but  thus 
recovered  jewel  to  his  people."  However,  the  father 
grieved  to  such  an  extent  over  his  lost  property 
that  soon  thereafter  he  was  gathered  to  his  ancestors. 
Now  the  son,  who  is  already  a  miracle  of  learning 
and  profound  erudition,  to  atone  for  the  impious 
regrets  of  his  sire,  has  vowed  the  redemption  of  his 
paternal  sin  by  a  long  and  tedious  journey,  from 
which  by  this  ship  he  returns  to  his  native  place  and 
family.  He  is  engaged  in  and  has  now  nearly  com- 
pleted a  commentary  on  the  Pentateuch.  It  is  an 
immense  work,  with  which  he  designs  to  establish  a 
literary  reputation  among  his  Hebrew  co-peers,  and, 
if  the  judgment  of  the  elder  Israelite  may  be  trusted, 
it  will  be  the  astonishment,  delight  and  admiration 
of  all  who  know  the  sacred  text,  and  will  become 
immortal  unto  unborn  generations.  His  eyesight 
being  impaired,  the  young  Jewess  acts  as  his  amanu- 
ensis, but,  in  spite  of  her  intelligence  and  great 
knowledge,  as  she  writes  down  the  sentences  which 
fall  from  his  lips,  one  can  notice  the  unmistakable 
surprise  and  astonishment  in  consequence  of  the 
master-genius  elucidating  facts  and  truths  never  be- 
fore so  known  and  taught. 

The  older  man  is  Parnass,  i.  e.,  the  president  of 
the  Jewish  congregation  in  the  German  city  of  Trier. 
His  name  is  Rabbi  Chisikiah,  one  of  the  merchant 
princes  of  the  realm,  esteemed  by  Jew  and  Gentile 
for  liberality,  benevolent  disposition,  honesty  and 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  203 

straightforwardness  of  character.  His  greatest 
treasure,  however,  is  the  only  daughter  now  by  his 
side,  the  apple  of  his  eye,  renowned  far  and  wide,  not 
so  much  for  her  comeliness,  but  for  the  phenomenal 
mind  which  had  mastered  the  realm  of  sacred  and 
profane  learning,  guided  and  developed  by  the  most 
celebrated  teachers  her  ambitious  father's  bounty 
could  command.  Interwoven  with  these  traits,  mak- 
ing her  almost  an  ideal  character,  is  a  depth  of 
loveliness,  a  goodness  of  heart,  and  withal  a  strength 
of  will  that  surmounts  difficulties  before  which  many 
a  man  would  shrink.  Hers  is  the  blessing  of  the 
poor,  the  praise  of  the  learned  and  the  love  of  the 
whole  community,  and  so  they  call  her  "  Beautiful 
Hadassa."  Withal  she  is  so  young  yet,  not  more 
than  eighteen  years,  and  had  never  known  a  mother's 
affection  since  she  became  an  orphan  at  birth.  But 
Rabbi  Chiskiah  had  been  both  father  and  mother  to 
her,  and  the  tenderness  and  affection  which  exists 
between  the  two  is  like  the  celestial  love  of  the 
angels,  devoted  to  their  Maker.  Father  and 
daughter  had  accompanied,  as  a  sort  of  complimen- 
tary escort,  a  large  number  of  rabbins  who  emigrated 
to  the  holy  city  of  Jerusalem,  there  to  end  their 
pious  lives,  wailing  and  weeping  weekly  when  the 
Sabbath  is  ushered  in  at  the  broken-down  walls  of 
the  temple.  The  two  had  travelled  as  far  as  Genoa 
with  these  friends,  and,  after  supplying  them  munifi- 
cently with  funds  and  providing  them  with  all 
necessary  comforts  for  such  a  long  journey,  receiving 
in  return  tearful  blessings,  they  now  returned  home- 
wards, bringing,  under  their  special  care  and  pro- 
tection, Rabbi  Solomon,  whom  they  met  at  the 
seaport. 

My  servant  now  introduced  me  to  these  persons, 
and  several  evenings  I  passed  in  their  company 
sharing  their  hospitality.  I  found  the  report  which 


204  BEN  BEOR. 

my  spy  had  so  dexterously  obtained  completely 
verified.  During  these  interviews,  when  in  such 
close  proximity  to  the  matchless  maiden,  my  pas- 
sion was  aroused  by  her  personal  loveliness  and 
the  magnetism  of  her  mind  into  uncontrollable  de- 
sires. Oh,  these  wild  emotions  of  love — these  ever 
unrequited  affections  for  one  whom  my  soul  thirsts 
to  possess !  Will  my  hopes,  my  fond  imaginings  for 
once  be  realized  ?  As  in  darkest  night  there  appears 
in  the  far-away  East  a  faint  glimmer  of  struggling 
light,  speaking  of  the  coining  dawn ;  so  in  my  gloomy 
soul,  burdened  with  the  self-consciousness  of  eternal 
evil,  appears  this  far-away  glinting  halo,  emanating 
from  the  most  heavenly  element  in  human  nature,  by 
whose  effect  I,  the  hated  wanderer  of  centuries,  at  last 
may  be  redeemed,  and  my  demoniac  cause  of  destruc- 
tion and  despoiling  brought  to  a  peaceable  and  blessed 
end,  reversing  and  undoing  all  the  woe  spread  among 
suffering  mortals.  Will  it  be  so  ?  I  tremble  in  ap- 
prehension of  continued  disappointment.  All  these 
daughters  of  Judah  through  the  past  ages  have  in- 
variably spurned  with  loathing  any  advances  made 
by  me  when  wooing  them.  Among  no  other  race  of 
men  have  I  found  the  feminine  sex  so  clannishly  true 
and  exclusive  in  bestowing  their  hearts.  The  men, 
occasionally,  may  be  wiled  away  and  ensnared  into 
the  meshes  of  some  fair  Gentile  maiden,  frequently 
practicing  intermarriage;  the  women,  with  isolated 
exceptions,  never !  This,  to  a  large  extent,  accounts 
for  the  perpetuity  and  purity  of  the  sturdy  stock, 
living,  thriving  and  ever  prospering  amidst  the  most 
adverse  circumstances.  Let  me  now,  therefore, 
summon  all  my  ingenuity  and  best  tactics  in  the 
attempt  to  win  this  girl !  It  will  require  the  most 
delicate,  careful  and  wary  movements  to  make  any 
progress  in  this  my  amative  scheme.  But  I  shall  leave 
no  power  on  earth  untried  to  achieve  it ;  then,  if  I 
fail — may  their  God  pity  her  and  her  race ! 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  205 

I  learn  just  now  that  immediately  on  our  landing 
at  the  port  of  our  destination,  the  old  man  and  his 
daughter  will  accompany  Rabbi  Solomon  to  Troy 
for  a  short  visit  before  returning  to  their  home. 
They  have  invited  me  to  call  on  them  if  my  way 
should  lead  through  the  ancient  French  provincial 
town.  My  road  will  certainly  be  in  that  direction! 
Until  I  meet  them  there,  adieu !  adieu  !  For  now 
Marseilles,  with  grand  domes  and  spires,  comes  at 
last  in  sight.  Soon  our  boat  is  fastened  to  its  moor- 
ing and  we  land  at  the  dock  of  one  of  the  finest  har- 
bors of  all  Europe.  My  friend,  Peter  the  Hermit, 
will  not  hear  of  any  separation,  but  insists  that  I 
must  accept  his  hospitalities  in  the  city.  So  we  de- 
part, arm  in  arm  together,  to  his  cloister  lodgings, 
followed  by  my  servants,  who  attend  to  our  luggage. 
We  bring  up  at  one  of  the  most  magnificent  abbeys 
of  the  Benedictines,  covered  with  ivy  and  moss. 
The  Superior  receives  his  confrere  and  guest  with 
the  well-renowned  cordiality  practised  among  the 
members  of  that  fraternity.  We  feel  comfortable 
and  at  home  at  once.  The  days  which  I  have  spent 
among  these  ecclesiastics,  humble,  wealthy  and  ever 
content,  belong  to  the  happiest  and  most  enjoyable  of 
my  long  and  troubled  career. 


PHANTASMAGORIA  XIII. 

THE   FIRST   CRUSADE. 

All  Europe,  especially  the  Western  portion,  was 
soon  aflame  with  the  rugged  eloquence  of  the  new 
prophet,  Peter  the  Hermit.  Clad  in  the  coarse 
woolen  garb  of  his  order,  barefooted  and  bareheaded, 
seated  upon  the  back  of  a  scraggy  donkey,  he  could 


206  BEN  BEOR. 

be  found  among  the  gaping  multitudes,  calling  upon 
the  people  who  streamed  to  hear  him,  to  prepare 
forthwith  for  the  delivery  of  the  Holy  Land  from  the 
hands  of  the  hated  Saracens.  Alternately  praying, 
preaching,  lamenting  and  weeping,  beating  his  breast 
or  raising  his  hands  in  imploration  to  heaven,  he  so 
affected  his  hearers  that  the  watchword,  "  On  to  Jeru- 
salem!" was  on  the  lips  and  tongues  of  everybody, 
and  spread  over  the  continent  like  wildfire. 

The  church  aided  the  fanaticism.  The  immense 
upheaval  of  the  masses  for  a  religious  movement 
attached  the  millions  closer  to  her  bosom.  Thereby, 
as  calculated,  she  gained  power  at  home  as  well  as 
placed  a  strong  barrier  against  the  Ottomans  in  the 
East.  From  each  altar  and  pulpit  resounded  the 
praiseworthiness  of  the  wild  enterprise;  absolution 
was  promised  for  every  past  sin,  and  salvation  pro- 
claimed to  all  who  should  join  the  army  of  conquest. 

A  bright  red  cross  worn  on  the  shoulders  was  made 
the  emblem  of  the  followers  of  Peter,  and  they  called 
themselves  henceforth  "  the  Crusaders."  The  women 
became  equally  enthusiastic  with  the  men.  Matrons 
and  maidens  were  busily  employed  in  furnishing  the 
insignia  for  husbands,  fathers,  brothers  and  lovers, 
and  in  getting  them  ready  to  march  at  the  earliest 
possible  time. 

The  governments  also  helped  on  the  movement. 
Kings  were  not  yet  willing  themselves  to  lead  the 
undisciplined  legions,  but  considered  it  the  better 
policy  to  encourage  by  all  possible  means  the  first 
riotous  ebullition  of  their  subjects.  If  the  prospec- 
tive effort  to  conquer  the  Holy  Land  succeeded,  the 
princes  could  easily  assume  command ;  if  it  failed, 
they  could  disavow  any  official  connection  with  the 
invasion. 

At  the  urgent  solicitations  of  my  influential  eccle- 
siastical friends,  I,  Ben  Beor,  received  permission 


HISTORICAL    PHANTASMAGORIA.  207 

from  his  majesty  the  King  of  France  to  enlist  men 
and  means  in  the  country,  with  headquarters  at  Troy. 
Thither  I  proceeded  without  delay,  rousing  the 
farmers,  tradesmen  and  merchants  to  the  highest 
pitch  of  excitement.  The  plow  was  left  idle,  the 
workmen  abandoned  their  tasks;  the  master 
mechanics,  craftsmen  and  apprentices,  all  threw 
away  their  tools  and  left  their  shops  to  join  the 
great  army. 

Such  a  commotion,  such  a  popular  uprising  had 
never  been  known  before.  It  was  a  moral  epidemic, 
growing  and  increasing  as  it  spread,  seemingly  des- 
tined to  overwhelm  the  continents.  The  exciting 
cause  of  becoming  champions  for  Christ  and  His 
church  was  increased  to  fever  heat  by  the  rumors 
which  I  had  industriously  spread,  of  the  immense 
wealth  and  treasures  possessed  by  the  unbelieving 
Mussulman,  awaiting  the  conquerors. 

Among  all  this  uproar  and  excitement  I  did  not 
neglect  my  private  affairs,  however.  I  made  it  my 
first  business  to  find  out  the  abode  of  my  Jewish 
friends  whose  acquaintance  I  had  made  on  shipboard. 
I  found  Rabbi  Solomon  ben  Isaac  with  his  family 
and  two  visitors,  located  in  the  centre  of  the  Ghetto, 
the  Jewish  quarter,  his  dingy  house  adjoining  the 
ancient  synagogue.  I  presented  myself  at  the  door, 
which  opened  to  my  knocking,  and  was  ushered  into 
the  presence  of  my  former  acquaintances;  received 
cordially  as  an  old  friend,  contrary  to  the  usual  wary 
precaution  of  the  Hebrews,  exercised  generally  in 
admitting  strangers  to  the  inner  circle  of  their 
homes. 

Who  would  have  thought,  on  entrance  to  the  dust- 
covered  and  cobwebbed  reception-room,  that  after 
traversing  a  narrow,  almost  subterranean  passage- 
way, there  should  be  found  the  splendor  and  princely 
oriental  wealth  which  adorns  the  inner  recesses  of  the 


208  BEN  BEOR. 

gloomy  abodes  of  these  cringing  and  apparently 
poverty-stricken  Hebrews?  The  apartments  were 
not  high,  but  the  walls  had  been  magnificently  frescoed 
in  the  finest  intaglio  style,  with  scenes  from  the  Old 
Testament,  the  figures  being  life-size.  The  light  fall- 
ing from  above  showed  the  rich  colors,  resembling 
most  artistic  enamel.  The  apartment  where  the 
family  generally  assembled  after  the  daily  work  was 
done  and  on  Sabbaths  and  festivals,  was  especially 
rich  in  all  its  appointments.  Magnificent  candelabra 
hung  suspended  from  the  glinting  and  glittering  ceil- 
ing. The  well-placed  furniture  was  of  most  costly 
material  and  workmanship.  Everything  bespoke 
style,  refinement  and  unstinted  wealth. 

It  was  Friday  evening  when  I  was  ushered  into 
the  company  of  my  old  friends  and  acquaintances. 
Besides  these,  who  seemed  exceedingly  glad  to  welcome 
me,  there  was  the  mistress  of  the  house,  the  wife  of 
Rabbi  Solomon,  a  stately  matron  and  ideal  picture  of 
a  m'other  in  Israel.  Seated  beside  her  was  the  youngest 
daughter,  the  only  one  at  home.  Two  older  ones, 
being  married,  were  away  with  their  husbands  in 
distant  cities.  The  girl,  whose  name  was  Mirzah, 
had  a  very  ordinary  appearance  and  was  small  in 
stature.  At  first  sight  there  seemed  something  re- 
pulsive in  her  make-up.  Lovely  Hadassa  held  her 
by  the  hand,  and  the  contrast  beween  the  two  became 
almost  shocldng  to  me.  How  often  are  we  poor 
mortals  deceived  by  appearances!  lleluctantly, but 
for  politeness  sake,  I  spoke  to  the  girl.  Imagine 
my  surprise  and  astonishment  when  she,  whom  I 
fancied  scarcely  worthy  of  the  companionship  of  such 
cultured  and  educated  associates,  proved  to  be  the 
consummate  master  of  them  all.  Learning  and  wit 
flowed  in  unbroken  succession  from  her  lips,  and  as 
the  fire  of  enthusiasm  kindled  her  eyes,  the  whole 
features  underwent  a  change,  making  her  sublimely 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  209 

fair.  It  was  the  finest  mental  display  when  these 
two  young  women  discoursed  on  some  of  the  most 
abstruse  and  casuistic  questions,  spurred  on  and 
directed  by  their  elders,  who  seemed  delighted  in 
this  brilliant  display  of  Biblical  and  Talmudic  learn- 
ing. Thus  were  we  entertained  until  called  to 
partake  of  a  sumptuous  supper.  The  arguments 
continued  upon  our  return  from  the  dining-hall 
to  the  reception-room.  During  their  highly  in- 
teresting and  exciting  conversation  I  noticed  an 
unmistakable  restlessness  on  the  part  of  the  two  girls 
and  their  parents.  It  clearly  betrayed  that  they 
were  anxiously  awaiting  the  arrival  of  some  other 
guests.  Too  soon  I  should  learn,  to  my  sorrow,  that 
I  was  not  mistaken  in  this  my  observation.  At  last 
we  heard  a  knocking  at  the  outside  door,  and  all  of 
them,  with  exclamations  of  joy,  were  instantly  on 
their  feet,  as  if  ready  to  proceed  to  the  entrance.  Eabbi 
Solomon,  however,  waved  the  others  back,  motioning 
them  to  keep  their  seats,  and,  followed  by  the  father 
of  Hadassa,  proceeded  to  the  outer  door  to  receive 
the  newcomers. 

Soon  they  re-entered  and  brought  with  them  two 
persons  of  most  remarkable  appearance.  One  was 
a  very  ajed  man,  certainly  beyond  three-score  and 
ten,  a  hunchback  of  repulsive  countenance;  long, 
white  hair  flowing  down  over  his  shoulders.  He 
walked  with  an  immense  gold-headed  staff  in  one 
hand  and  leaned  on  the  arm  of  his  companion,  a 
young  Hebrew  of  nearly  colossal  proportions.  The 
younger  person  was  certainly  not  less  than  six  feet 
tall,  broad-shouldered,  and  with  stature  and  counten- 
ance imposing  and  majestic.  The  most  remark- 
able feature  of  bis  appearance  was  the  broad  fore- 
head, made  prominent  by  a  circle  of  short  light- 
brown  curls,  and  a  long  beard  falling  over  his  chest. 
The  new  guests  were  then  introduced  to  me — the 


210  BEN  BEOR. 

older  as  Pasha  Trim,  an  Ottoman  grandee,  the  king's 
banker  at  Paris,  and  Monsigneur  Alfonso  Simon, 
his  associate.  A  few  words  spoken  to  me  shortly 
after  their  arri/al  stunned  and  overwhelmed  me, 
and  I  underwent  tortures  of  anger  and  jealousy 
when,  in  the  course  of  the  evening,  the  young 
Frenchman  was  presented  to  me  as  the  accepted 
lover  and  betrothed  of  Hadassa.  I  had  to  witness 
the  cordial  intercourse  of  these  parties  and  the 
genuine  affection  which  undeniably  existed  between 
the  pair.  To  be  in  his  place  I  would  have  sacrificed 
ambition,  hatred,  revenge  and  future. 

But  this  was  not  to  be.  The  fatal  course  of  events 
is,  as  it  seems,  forever  to  goad  me  on  irresistibly  to 
the  ever-continued  work  of  my  malicious  mission. 
The  company  must  have  noticed,  too,  the  sudden 
change  in  my  behavior.  I  concluded  this  from 
several  questions  addressed  to  me  by  one  or  the 
other  person — queries  which  evinced  anxious  curi- 
osity. Pretending  some  sudden  indisposition,  I 
soon  departed,  receiving  their  sincere  regrets.  De- 
clining politely  their  urgent  proffers  to  see  me  home 
or  have  some  of  their  servants  accompany  me,  each 
bade  me  good-night  with  a  warm  shake  of  the  hand. 
After  pressing  invitations  to  call  again  at  my 
earliest  leisure,  and  accompanied  by  Rabbi  Solomon, 
who  led  the  way  to  the  door,  I  departed,  vowing  to 
myself  that  all  my  disappointments  should  be  visited 
with  fiercest  venom  on  their  heads,  and  that  the  con- 
summation of  the  union  of  the  young  couple  should 
never  take  place,  if  I  had  to  murder  them  all.  In 
this  mood  I  arrived  at  my  quarters.  The  night 
which  I  spent  was,  no  doubt,  the  most  terrible  and 
agonizing  in  all  my  life's  experience.  Heated  by 
maddening  jealousy,  my  blood  leaped  like  fire 
through  veins  and  brain.  I  walked  the  floor  all 
night,  talking  incoherently  to  myself  and  gesticulat- 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  211 

ing  wildly.  It  must  have  made  me  look  like  a 
maniac.  When  at  last  the  first  dawn  of  morning 
peeped  through  the  window,  I  threw  myself  ex- 
hausted on  the  bed  and  fell  into  a  deep  but  troubled 
slumber,  from  which  I  only  awoke  near  noon  next 
day.  My  servant  had  entered  several  times,  but,  as  he 
explained  afterwards,  finding  his  master  so  sound 
asleep,  dared  not  to  arouse  me. 

When  I  had  opened  my  eyes  I  felt  composed  and 
determined  to  act  systematically.  First,  I  found  out 
during  the  day  the  position  the  Jews  held  among 
their  Gentile  neighbors.  This  proved  to  be  excep- 
tionally friendly.  The  Frenchmen  are  by  nature 
kindly  disposed  towards  all  people.  That  gross 
prejudice  and  ignorant  barbaric  fanaticism  so  preva- 
lent among  other  nations,  is  a  stranger  to  them. 
This  cordiality  was  greatly  enhanced  by  the  blended 
social  and  commercial  interests  of  the  inhabitants. 
A  large  exportation  trade  in  home  manufactures  was 
carried  on  by  the  Hebrews.  They  gave  employment 
to  the  laborers,  mechanics  and  people  in  general, 
treating  them  always  liberally.  Destitution  was  un- 
known ;  comfort  and  well-doing  was  a  leading  feat- 
ure among  the  entire  population  of  this  munici- 
pality. For  all  that  the  Christians  here  would  have 
cared,  the  Jews  might  have  torn  down  the  walls  of 
the  Ghetto  long  ago.  This  had  actually  been  pro- 
posed by  the  liberal  Catholic  clergymen  who  resided 
in  this  parish,  and  would  have  been  carried  out  but 
for  the  episode  which  occurred  concerning  the  jewel 
in  possession  of  the  rabbi,  and  which  was  coveted, 
as  related  heretofore,  by  the  church,  for  adorning  a 
Madonna.  I  was  satisfied  that  an  emeute  between 
the  members  of  the  two  religious  denominations  was 
here  entirely  out  of  question.  Nor  would  that  have 
helped  me  in  my  present  dilemma,  since  I  learned  on 
the  very  next  day  from  my  apostate  servant  that 


212  BEN  BEOR. 

Rabbi  Chiskiah  and  Hadassa  had  already  departed 
for  their  home  in  Germany.  This  wily  renegade  had 
found  favor  with  one  of  the  young  maidservants  in 
the  house  of  Rabbi  Samuel,  and  through  her,  with 
his  usual  tact  of  spying  into  other  people's  affairs, 
had  been  informed  that  the  marriage  ceremony  of 
the  newly-betrothed  couple  was  appointed  to  take 
place  at  the  home  of  the  Parnass  about  one  year 
hence.  So  I  had  at  least  plenty  of  time  in  which  to 
act.  Solution  of  my  difficulty  came,  however,  partly 
from  another  direction.  While  traversing  one  of  the 
main  streets  of  the  city  the  next  morning,  my  atten- 
tion was  attracted  by  a  sign  suspended  above  the  door 
of  a  business  house,  which  read : 

PASHA  IRIM  &  CO., 
BANKERS  TO  His  ROYAL  MAJESTY. 

I  entered  on  pretense  of  having  to  transact  financial 
business,  and  found  old  Irim  deeply  engrossed,  count- 
ing stacks  of  gold  which  lay  piled  up  before  him.  His 
partner  was  absent.  A  glance  at  the  man  would 
satisfy  any  observant  beholder  to  what  extent  he  was 
wrapt  up  in  the  absorbing  occupation  before  him. 
His  soul  and  his  gold  seemed  to  be  blended  into  one. 
Would  it  not  be  possible,  I  reasoned  with  myself, 
seeing  this  embodiment  of  avarice  before  me,  to  work 
upon  his  cupidity  so  as  to  lure  him,  by  large  sums, 
to  help  me,  that  his  associate  should  forego  the  alli- 
ance with  Hadassa  and  co-operate  with  me  in  taking 
the  place  of  the  lover  ?  I  resolved  to  make  the  trial 
with  this  inveterate  miser.  After  a  cordial  saluta- 
tion, which  became  absolutely  cringing  on  his  part, 
I  stated  the  nature  of  my  business,  producing  a  war- 
rant for  an  immense  sum  of  money  on  the  king's  ex- 
chequer, which  I  proposed  to  deposit  with  him  and 
make  the  firm  agents  for  my  large  financial  transac- 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  213 

tions.  He  smiled  broadly,  rubbed  his  thin,  bony 
hands  together  in  great  satisfaction  as  he  stated  the 
usurous  terms  on  which  this  must  be  done.  In  a 
tone  of  pleasantry  I  remarked  during  the  conversa- 
tion that  I  would  willingly  give  the  whole  amount 
were  I  in  the  place  of  his  young  partner  relative  to 
the  beautiful  daughter  of  Habbi  Chiskiah.  He 
looked  again  at  the  paper  with  that  horrible  grin 
which  showed  the  inward  workings  of  a  greedy 
mind,  shaking  his  head  with  great  efforts.  At  last 
he  spoke:  "Would  you  indeed  give  it? — give 
all  this  for  a  woman?  Fools  that  we  men  are! 
picking  out  one  girl  from  the  thousands — stake 
everything  for  that  one — everything — money  and 
life,  as  if  all  were  not  the  same — bundles  of  cap- 
rices and  whims,  spenders  of  our  hard-earned  treas- 
ures, triflers  with  the  hearts  and  affections  of  us 
stupid  males.  You  shall  have  her,  my  friend — you 
shall  have  her  at  this  bargain !  or  my  name  is  not 
Pasha  Irim.  I'll  manage  it  with  my  Alfonso — you 
shall  have  her.  You  will  sign  this  paper,  and  he 
shall  sign  the  contract.  As  far  as  I  am  concerned 
you  shall  have  her.  Take  her  with  my  good  wishes 
of  good  luck  and  blessing.  The  match  would  have 
cost  me  too  much  anyhow — two  hundred  thousand 
francs !  as  if  it  were  a  trifle.  My  boy  will  make 
some  words — some  hard  words,  I  expect,  but  he  has 
always  obeyed  me,  and  he  shall  mind  me  now — 
shall !  I  say, — shall !  Come  back  to-morrow  by  this 
time  and  all  will  be  arranged — I  will  find  him 
another  and  cheaper  kallah  ( bride). "  I  took  a  re- 
ceipt for  my  draft  and  departed,  not  without  appre- 
hension of  the  ultimate  success  of  my  cunning 
stratagem. 

It  seemed  to  me  almost  impossible  that  a  young 
man,  with  the  ardent  affections  which  he  held  for 
his  affianced,  should,  at  the  command  of  his  venal 


214  BEN  BEOR. 

senior,  sell  out  his  heart's  love  for  a  sum  of  money. 
It  certainly  appeared  against  all  human  nature. 
My  prognostications  in  this  matter  proved  too  true. 
Returning  towards  evening  from  the  camp  where 
my  legions  of  Crusaders  were  growing  to  immense 
proportions,  impatient  to  be  led  on  towards  our 
goal,  there  was  a  great  commotion  over  the  eity. 
An  excited  crowd  was  gathered  in  front  of  the  bank- 
er's door.  I  was  forthwith  informed  of  the  cause. 
The  old  man  had  suddenly  died  with  a  stroke  of 
apoplexy.  Loud  and  angry  words  had  been  heard 
inside  by  some  passers-by;  then  piercing  screams 
and  cries  for  help  followed,  and  the  doors  were 
suddenly  thrown  open.  Out  of  these  young  Alfonso 
rushed  forth,  imploring  some  of  the  bystanders  to 
run  for  medical  aid,  as  his  partner  had  fallen  into  a 
deathly  swoon.  Doctors  came  immediately,  but 
found  the  banker  lifeless  and  cold  in  death.  On 
my  arrival  home  I  found  a  letter  which  had  been 
brought  at  noon  by  a  messenger  from  the  banking 
office.  It  contained  my  warrant,  with  the  most 
insulting  and  offensive  epithets  from  the  lover, 
throwing  my  vile  proposal  in  my  teeth,  and  threat- 
ening, if  I  ever  darkened  their  door  again,  that  I 
should  be  spit  upon  and  kicked  out.  The  insult 
and  disappointment  raised  my  anger  to  a  high  pitch, 
the  like  of  which  I  never  had  experienced  before. 
"Vengeance!'7  I  cried;  "vengeance,  cruel  and 
unprecedented,  on  the  whole  miserable  tribe,  but 
most  overwhelming  revenge  on  this  haughty  Jew, 
his  affianced,  and  their  hapless  friends  !  " 

Nothing  could  hold  me  any  longer  in  Troy.  Next 
day  every  preparation  for  moving  onward  with  my 
cohorts  was  made.  These  louts  had  agreed  upon 
a  token  and  signal  which  should  precede  us  on  our 
march.  They  selected  a  goose  and  a  goat  to  pre- 
cede as  vanguards  of  our  forces.  While  travelling 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  215 

the  stupid  fowl  was  carried  by  a  fantastically  arrayed 
old  beldame.  The  frisky  quadruped  was  led  by  a 
shepherd-boy,  clad  in  the  peculiar  mountaineer 
fashion. 

As  we  moved  on,  the  bird  quacked  and  the  goat 
bleated.  Thus  the  rabble  marched  away  towards 
the  German  borders.  Soon  we  reached  the  Rhine 
and  crossed  it.  Our  ranks  swelled  from  day  to  day 
by  newcomers  of  the  lowest  and  the  vilest  kind. 
They  threw  themselves  upon  the  hamlets  and  vil- 
lages, pilfering  and  ransacking  every  hut  and  house 
on  our  road.  A  stupefying  terror  seized  the  defense- 
less inhabitants,  losing  their  little  all,  made  houseless 
and  homeless ;  they  readily  listened  to  the  preachers, 
of  whom  we  had  a  superabundance,  one  more  fanatic 
than  the  other.  The  robbed  German  peasants  fell 
into  line  with  the  French  marauders,  who  had  also 
been  joined  by  a  similar  mass  coming  from  Flan- 
ders. Ribald  songs,  swearing  and  cursing,  fight- 
ing over  food  and  spoils,  mad  carousing,  and  wild 
orgies  of  lust  and  debauchery  were  the  order  of  the 
day.  The  horrible  crowd  turned  into  uncontroll- 
able savages,  ever  ready  for  deeds  of  wanton  violence 
and  bloodshed.  Whoever  resisted  was  assaulted  and 
often  slain.  The  murdered  corpses  lay  plentifully 
in  our  wake,  rotting  and  unburied,  a  prey  of  the 
birds  and  beasts  in  the  fields. 

Soon  I  added  new  fuel  to  the  ever-increasing 
flames.  As  we  approached  the  city  of  Trier  (Treves), 
the  first  of  any  magnitude  on  German  ground, 
where,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  the  home  of 
Rabbi  Chirikiah  and  his  envied  daughter  Hadassa, 
I  kindled  a  new  thought  among  our  monks  and 
clericals ;  giving  out  by  them  to  the  drunken  mul- 
titudes the  password,  which  flew  through  the  lines 
like  lightning :  "The  Jews,"  who  are  as  much  the 
enemies  of  the  Saviour  as  the  unbelieving  Mussul- 


216  BEN  BEOR. 

man,  ought  to  be  converted  to  Christianity,  willing 
or  by  force.  If  resisting,  let  them  suffer  utter 
annihilation  from  the  face  of  the  earth.  Why  not 
commence,  then,  the  veritable  crusade  right  at  home, 
beginning  with  the  hated,  rich  Hebrew  heretics? 
The  frenzy  of  the  already  over-excited,  sanguinary 
rabble  knew  no  bounds  at  the  immediate  prospects 
of  havoc  among  an  entirely  unprotected  and  friend- 
less class,  who  by  the  nature  of  their  forced  occu- 
pation as  traders,  merchants  and  financiers,  had 
the  misfortune  to  be  the  rich  creditors  of  high  and 
low,  and  while  forbiddqn  to  own  a  foot  of  land  on 
European  soil,  and  barred  from  every  profession 
and  trade,  they  became,  notwithstanding,  the  pos- 
sessors of  great  wealth.  This  they  generally  con- 
verted into  precious  jewels  and  valuable  gems.  In 
case  of  emergency  and  dangers,  always  hanging  over 
them,  these  could  easily  be  carried  away.  Necessity 
being  the  mother  of  invention,  these  shrewd  people 
had  lately  devised  a  most  ingenious  method  of 
exchange,  by  which  the  temporarily  oppressed  and 
persecuted  in  one  land  or  province  were  enabled 
secretly  to  ship  their  possessions  to  more  secure 
places,  ever  relying  implicitly  upon  scrupulous  in- 
tegrity among  themselves.  Defalcation  or  breach 
of  trust  is  not  on  record  throughout  all  these 
troubled  times,  it  being  the  special  charge  of  the 
ever  watchful  and  faithful  Rabbins,  who  were  clothed 
with  high  judicial  authority,  to  guard  the  interest  of 
their  brethren  in  faith.  Such  was  the  beginning  of  the 
banking  system,  by  which  soon  the  whole  monetary 
transactions  of  the  civilized  world  were  to  be  operated. 
These  were  the  new  ramifications  against  which  I  now 
had  to  combat,  foreseeing  clearly  that  the  accursed 
race,  by  wealth,  if  not  timely  checked,  must  become 
in  not  far  distant  time  as  peerless  a  power  as  was 
the  state  and  church.  Many  a  time  I  have  pondered 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  217 

upon  the  difference  in  my  position,  had  I  been  one 
of  them  and  used  my  strength  and  labors  in  the 
amelioration  of  their  condition.  But  this  was  not 
to  be !  My  maledicted  fate  forbade  such  hallucin- 
ation. 

So  onward  I  marched  with  my  wild  followers. 
A  strange,  inexplicable  superstition  was  prevailing 
throughout  their  ranks  in  reference  to  the  two  gro- 
tesque animals  who  ever  led  our  van.  It  was  given 
out  and  firmly  believed  that  the  Holy  Ghost*  had 
descended  upon  them,  and  they  were  divinely  inspired 
to  lead  the  way  successfully  to  the  goal  of  our  mis- 
sion. Passing  the  goose  or  the  goat,  everybody 
made  the  sign  of  the  cross  and  recited  thoughtless 
prayers,  while  counting  the  consecrated  rosaries. 

The  monstrous  mob  resembled  now  the  fabled 
Dragon  of  the  heathens,  who,  as  was  said,  devoured 
every  man  and  beast  coming  into  reach.  Our  ap- 
proach had  been  long  since  heralded  to  the  city.  I 
had  caused  some  mounted  couriers  several  days  pre- 
vious to  proceed  thither,  and  especially  instructed 
them  to  inform  the  already  demoralized  inhabitants 
what  we  intended  to  do  with  the  Israelites.  These 
people  were  struck  with  awe  and  terror;  and  as 
usual,  when  such  calamities  were  upon  them,  had 
recourse  to  their  houses  of  prayer,  humiliating  and 
prostrating  themselves  before  God,  weeping  and  fast- 
ing; not  neglecting,  however,  to  take  care  of  their 
treasures  and  valuables.  Calculating  that  in  this 
hour  of  great  tribulation,  any  sacrifice  would  be 
made  by  them,  no  matter  how  vile  and  exacting, 
by  which  the  impending  fate  might  be  averted, 
when  a  few  hours  distant  from  tho  walls  of  the  town, 
I  proceeded  alone  in  advance  of  my  legions  and 
sought  the  house  of  the  Parnass,  Rabbi  Chiskiah.  It 
was  at  an  early  hour  of  a  beautiful  spring  morning.  I 
found  him  and  Hadassa  just  ready  to  go  to  the  syna- 


218  BEN  BEOR. 

gogue.  They  were  much  dejected,  .and  the  girl  was  in 
tears,  looking  to  me  more  handsome  and  entrancing 
than  I  had  ever  seen  her  before.  They  recognized  me, 
and  I  heard  the  old  man,  in  tremulous,  half-loud  ac- 
cents, murmur  the  well-known  quotation  from  the  book 
of  Job:  "And  Satan  too  was  among  them!"  Then 
he  continued  to  speak  loud  and  ask  firmly :  "What 
is  the  object  for  which  thou  comest  here  now?  We 
know  thy  treachery  against  my  daughter's  betrothed, 
and  tfiat  thou  hast  been  the  indirect  murderer  of  his 
aged  patron.  For  what  other  evil  dost  thou  come  to 
us  in  the  time  of  our  affliction?"  I  was  barely  pre- 
pared for  such  a  brusque  reception ;  but  seeing  that  all 
was  known  here,  I  stated  the  proposal  which  I  in- 
tended to  make.  "  Since  you  are  informed  of  all 
this,  you  must  ncny  also  be  aware  what  is  in  store  for 
you  and  your  people.  Yet  it  is  in  my  power  to 
avert  the  coming  massacre.  And  I  will  do  it  on  one 
condition.  I  pledge  you  my  word  with  my  life,  if 
you  accept  it  now,  not  a  Jew  shall  be  hurt  iu  this 
city.  Give  me  the  hand  of  Hadassa,  I  love  her  madly, 
devotedly !  I  will  make  her  so  happy  and  so  rich 
that  she  shall  become  the  envy  of  crowned  princesses. 
Refuse  me  and  I  will  have  her  by  force ;  and  exter- 
minate every  man,  woman  and  child  of  your  people. 
Choose  ye  now  quickly!"  "Son  of  Belial!"  he 
cried  at  the  top  of  his  voice,  "we  care  neither 
for  the  blessings  of  Balaam  nor  do  we  dread  his 
curses.  If  our  God  wills  to  save  us  from  the  hands  of 
the  wicked,  He  will  send  us  His  messenger  of  help ; 
if  He  in  His  providence  has  decreed  that  we  must 
fall,  we  will  know,  like  our  martyred  ancestors,  how 
submissively  and  proudly  to  die !  So  get  thee  hence  at 
once,  and  do  thy  worst !"  After  hearing  this,  I  felt 
sure  that  remonstrance  was  futile ;  and  fully  deter- 
mined upon  my  future  course,  I  left  without  another 
word,  rejoining  my  impatient  companions,  now  at  the 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  219 

gates  of  the  city.  "  Forward/'  was  my  command, 
and  like  panting  tigers  they  threw  themselves  upon 
the  town.  I  led  the  way  to  the  Ghetto.  Ten  thousand 
maniacs  followed  in  my  wake.  Before  we  could 
enter  its  gloomy -precincts,  we  had  to  pass  the  cele- 
brated bridge  which  spans  the  turbulent  waters  of  the 
river  Moselle,  and  which  had  been  built  many  centu- 
ries ago  by  the  invading  Romans.  As  we  approached 
the  towering  structure,  we  saw  gathered  upon  its 
centre  a  large  number  of  young  females.  I  recog- 
nized the  foremost  in  their  midst  as  being  Hadassa. 
On  our  approach,  she  was  the  first  to  hurl  herself 
headlong  over  the  ramparts  into  the  raging  flood. 
All  the  others  followed  without  a  minute's  pause.  At 
the  top  of  my  voice  I  cried  out :  "  Save  them,  rescue 
them  !'"  A  thousand  men  flung  themselves  into  the 
seething  waters.  They  were  too  late !  Long  before 
they  could  reach  them,  the  sinking  bodies  had  disap- 
peared in  the  rushing  caldron  which  the  river  forms 
at  this  spot.  How  many  of  my  own  men  perished  in 
this  attempt  I  never  learned.  We  hastened  on  to  the 
synagogue.  From  far  away  we  heard  low  chants, 
sounding  like  the  chorus  of  the  dying.  The  entrance 
was  strongly  barricaded,  and  gave  way  for  our 
entrance  only  after  continued  work  with  axes  and 
sledge-hammers.  Horror  held  us  spellbound  at  the 
opening!  The  whole  antique-looking  space,  lit  up 
with  wax  candles,  showed  the  entire  congregation  in 
the  last  gasps  of  death. 

Upon  a  raised  "  Bihma  "  stood  the  hoary-headed, 
silver-bearded  Rabbi.  He  and  Parnass  Chiskiah 
held  long,  blood-dripping  knives  in  their  hands. 
They  were  loudly  chanting.  I  distinctly  heard  the 
words  always  pronounced  by  dying  Israelites.  The 
Parnass  had  his  white  shining  breast  bared.  As  we 
hurried  towards  them  the  aged  Rabbi  plunged  his  knife 
with  fearful  certainty  into  the  heart  of  his  companion, 


220  BEN  BEOR. 

who  fell  dead  at  his  feet,  and  then  with  one  more 
effort  dealt  himself  a  fatal  blow,  after  which  he  tot- 
tered forward,  exclaiming  in  his  fall  down  the  steps 
before  the  sanctuary  the  last  gasping  words,  "Adouoy 
*who  elohim  !  The  Lord  alone  is  the  true  God !  " 

In  the  centre  of  the  sacred  edifice,  on  top  of  a 
table-like  structure,  there  lay  a  vellum  record,  the 
title-page  of  which  wras  inscribed,  "  Memor-Book  of 
the  Jewish  Congregation  of  Trier. "  On  the  last 
page  was  written  the  unanimous  resolution  of  the 
assembled  body.  They  had  concluded  to  die  by  their 
own  hands  rather  than  to  fall  into  the  cruel  power 
of  their  enemies.  As  I  yet  was  perusing  the  names 
and  numbers  of  these  people,  who  heroically  indeed 
sacrificed  themselves  to  death  rather  than  submit  to 
forcible  baptism,  some  of  the  wretches  in  our  train 
had  set  fire  to  the  premises,  and  in  a  few  moments 
more  the  raging  element  drove  everybody  to  hasty 
retreat.  A  heap  of  ashes,  cinders  and  blackened 
ruins  of  a  once  magnificent  ancient  structure  was  all 
that  remained  of  the  heretofore  opulent  congregation 
of  Trier. 

The  hurricane  thus  let  loose  over  the  city  swept 
over  all  Southern  Germany.  Its  destructive  force 
was  soon  experienced  in  similar  manner  among  the 
Hebrew  communities  in  the  prosperous  and  peaceful 
cities  of  Speier,  Worms,  Cologne,  and  the  whole 
district  bordered  by  the  rivers  Rhine  and  Main. 
The  details  of  its  devastation  during  the  ensuing 
prolonged  Crusades,  the  ever-spreading  force  of 
destruction,  belong  to  the  historian,  who  must 
write  the  tear-stained,  bloody  annals  of  those  times. 
Its  full  extent  and  pitiful  sufferings  of  the  countless 
victims  will  never  be  known  until  the  last  trumpet 
shall  call  the  wantonly  murdered  to  testify  for  final 
judgment  on  their  brutal  butchery.  If  this  persecu- 
tion set  in  motion  could  only  be  accelerated  by 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  221 

some  more  fanatic  and  lasting  motive-power,  one 
that  would  commend  itself  to  the  rude  understand- 
ing and  superstitious  herd  of  common  humanity; 
one  that  was  not  of  the  effervescent  nature,  spurting 
away  by  the  present  momentary  excitement;  one 
which  could  be  used  effectually  forever,  provided  it 
hud  in  it  the  elements  of  use  with  the  ignorant,  then 
might  indeed  my  sanguinary  hopes  be  realized  at  no 
distant  day,  to  see  the  total  extermination  of  that 
cursed  race  which  had  been,  and  as  I  was  sure 
would  in  future  be,  the  main  obstacle  in  the  way 
of  my  mission. 

Meditating  upon  such  a  plan,  I  consigned  my 
present  leadership  of  the  migratory  upheaval  to 
other  hands  and  wended  my  way  southward,  escap- 
ing unobserved  from  the  noise  and  tumult  of  the 
crazed  and  blood-drunken  crusaders.  After  a  pleas- 
ant journey  through  the  vine-clad  hills  along  the 
river  Loire,  I  reached  at  last  the  small  but  beautiful 
city  of  Blois,  where  I  intended  to  stay  a  short  time 
for  rest,  recuperation  and  cogitation. 


PHANTASMAGORIA  XIV. 

THE   ORIGIN   OF   THE   BLOOD-ACCUSATION. 

The  streets  of  the  historic  little  burg  of  Blois  are 
narrow,  and  the  houses  lining  them  mean-looking 
and  neglected.  Lying  on  an  acclivity /from  any 
point  of  the  city  could  be  seen  a  most  beautiful  pic- 
ture. On  the  highest  point  of  the  ascending  grade 
stands  the  imposing  castle  of  Count  Theobold.  The 
massive  pile  lends  a  picturesque  finish  to  the  mag- 


222  BEN  BEOR. 

nificent  landscape.  Passing  along  through  the  main 
avenue,  it  being  towards  evening,  I  noticed  many 
people  in  holiday  attire,  all  crossing  the  thoroughfare 
at  one  point.  On  inquiry  I  found  that  they  were 
Jews  on  their  way  to  the  synagogue,  this  being  the 
eve  of  the  holy  Passover  feast.  I  joined  the  crowd 
and  entered  the  antique  edifice.  My  Semitic  physiog- 
nomy ensured  me  a  "Salem  Alichum"  from  the 
beadle  (Shamas)  at  the  door,  and  I  was  shown  to  a 
seat  of  honor  provided  for  strangers  among  the 
congregation.  Then  the  obsequious  old  man  went 
up  to  the  official  who  sat  near  the  ministering  Rabbi 
and  whispered  a  few  words  to  him.  After  this 
he  told  me  to  wait  until  the  close  of  divine  ser- 
vice; that  the  Parnass  (president)  had  done  him- 
self the  honor  of  inviting  me  to  become  his  guest 
during  the  Pesach  feast.  As  he  then  left  me  and 
proceeded  on  his  further  duties,  there  entered  among 
the  many  newcomers  a  young  lady  of  most  distin- 
guished appearance  and  radiant  beauty.  Everybody 
made  way  for  her  and  she  was  seated  opposite  me, 
in  the  gallery  overhead,  assigned  exclusively  for 
the  women.  The  long  chanting,  singing  and  praying, 
in  which  the  congregation  joined,  being  finished,  my 
host  came  to  me,  and  with  the  wish  of  a  pleasant 
feast  (good  Yom  tov)  took  me  by  the  arm  and 
escorted  me  outside.  Here  we  were  joined  by  the 
maiden  whose  entrance  I  had  noticed.  The  venerable 
president,  after  laying  his  hand  in  blessing  upon 
her  head  and  fondly  kissing  her,  introduced  the 
young  lady  to  me  as  his  only  daughter  Pulcelina. 
We  then  made  our  way  through  the  lively  crowd 
and  soon'entered  the  cosy  home  to  which  I  had  been 
invited  and  now  was  made  welcome.  The  mother 
of  the  house  had  prepared  for  the  customary  family 
services  which  the  Hebrews  observe  on  that  evening 
and  which  they  call  the  "  Sedar."  It  is  celebrated 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  223 

in  memory  of  the  exodus  of  their  slave-ancestors 
from  the  Egyptian  bondage.  It  consists  of  a  peculiar 
arrangement,  a  home  service  preceding  the  evening 
meal.  The  unleavened  cakes,  called  "  Matzoh,"  are 
placed  alternately  under  snow-white  napkins  at  the 
head  of  the  table.  They  represent  three  distinct 
classes  of  the  race,  the  Priest,  the  Levites,  and  the 
People.  Alongside  of  these  there  lies  a  boiled  egg, 
typifying  life  immortal ;  a  charred  bone  of  the  Paschal 
lamb,  emblematical  of  the  sacrifice  of  yore;  a  piece  of 
horse-radish,  representing  the  bitter  life  of  serfdom ; 
some  green  herbs,  to  remind  that  this  is  the  first 
month  of  spring ;  a  dish  of  sweetmeats  mixed  so 
as  to  show  by  its  color  the  loam  in  which  the 
oppressed  had  to  labor;  a  small  vessel  of  salt  water, 
signifying  the  wants  of  human  existence.  A  cup 
of  wine  is  placed  at  every  plate,  and  one  stands  in 
the  centre,  ready  for  the  prophet  Elijah  should  he 
deign  to  come  this  evening,  being  expected  at  any 
time  to  announce  the  approach  of  the  Messiah. 
These  must  be  emptied  four  times  during  the  service. 
How  hateful  all  these  reminiscences  tugged  at  my 
heart,  bringing  back  to  memory  the  events  which  at 
the  start  of  my  career,  buried  in  the  folds  of  primi- 
tive history,  had  so  fatally  sent  me  forth  to  my 
doom  !  When  all  the  arrangements  were  ready,  we 
sat  down,  and  then  from  a  book  which  they  called  a 
"Hagadah"  prayed,  chanted  and  sang  the  quaint 
melodies  transmitted  from  ages  ago  to  every  member 
of  the  tradition-loving  tribe.  While  the  peculiar 
performance  was  in  progress  my  galled  disposition 
perceived  that  in  connection  with  the  mystic  cere- 
monial an  accusation  against  these  people  might 
be  invented,  which,  horrible  in  its  tenor,  would  find 
ready  credence  by  the  easily  swayed,  already  ill- 
disposed,  ignorant  Christians.  It  was  nothing  less 
than  the  infamous  charge  that  the  Jews,  for  the 


224  BEN  BEOR. 

complete  preparation  of  these  Easter  rites,  needed 
blood  from  the  Nazarene  believers,  and  that  for  this 
purpose,  whenever  the  occasion  offered,  they  would 
slay  a  Christian,  abstracting  the  life-fluid  from  his 
veins,  and  then  bury  their  victim  secretl^at  night. 
Absurd  as  the  black  libel  may  seem  to  any  one 
acquainted  with  the  sacred  aversion  the  Israelites 
have  against  the  shedding  of  blood,  their  laws  being 
inexorable  in  that  direction,  yet  once  set  afloat, 
neither  this  truth,  remonstrances  nor  protestations 
would  ever  be  able  to  quell  again  the  hideous,  tor- 
menting calumny.  If  extirpated  in  one  locality,  it 
would  rise  again,  when  a  pretext  was  needed,  else- 
where with  new  and  terrible  vigor.  Could  these 
people  in  their  hospitality  have  known  or  guessed 
with  what  black  misfortune  they  and  theirs  were  to  be 
soon  visited  through  my  instrumentality,  how  they 
would  have  cursed  the  hour  that  brought  the  stranger 
to  this  fireside. 

Soon  after  supper  there  came  a  visit  from  Count 
Theobold,  who  honored  the  house  frequently  with 
his  august  presence.  I  noticed  then  the  motive  that 
attracted  him  hither.  It  was  beautiful  Pulcelina, 
with  whom  he  was  in  love.  He  had  contracted  early 
in  life  a  "  mariage  de  convenance "  with  a  noble 
lady,  as  is  the  usage  with  the  aristocracy.  The  wife 
proved  to  be  a  perfect  gorgon,  and  made  his  life  in 
the  castle  a  hotbed  of  contention  and  quarrels.  Pie 
had  met  the  young  Jewess,  was  attracted  by  her  fino 
appearance  and  sweet,  lady-like  ways,  and  offered  her 
such  ostentatious  attentions  that  dame  Rumor  soon 
got  hold  of  all,  whence  it  reached  the  Countess,  who 
became  fiercely  jealous,  as  well  she  might,  against 
such  a  powerful  rival. 

During  the  course  of  the  evening's  conversation, 
the  Count  remarked  that  one  of  his  best  grooms  had 
left  him  that  day,  and  he  was  anxious  to  replace  him 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  225 

as  soon  as  possible  with  a  good  man.  I  stayed  in  the 
house  for  two  days  ti  11  the  feast  was  over.  Then,  with 
the  liveliest  gratitude  for  the  munificent  entertain- 
ment which  had  been  so  kindly  extended,  I  departed 
on  a  pretended  journey.  They  bade  me  a  cordial  fare- 
well, with  the  invitation,  whenever  I  should  come  this 
way  again  to  make  their  house  my  home.  Totally 
disguised,  I  presented  myself,  however,  shortly  after 
at  the  castle,  and  giving  the  Count  a  fair  story  of 
myself  and  good  account  of  my  ability  as  a  hostler, 
I  was  forthwith  engaged.  From  the  servants,  with 
whom  I  soon  fraternized,  I  learned  that  there  existed 
a  great  rivalry  between  the  Count,  our  master,  and 
the  general-in-chief  of  the  city  government,  for  the 
favors  of  the  beautiful  Jewess.  She  had,  however, 
spurned  the  advances  of  the  general,  who  on  several 
occasions  had  been  impertinent  to  her,  and  of  which 
she  complained  to  the  more  favored  Count.  Harsh 
words  followed  between  the  two  would-be  lovers. 
The  mean  nature  of  the  general  turned  into  hatred 
towards  the  girl,  and  he  had  publicly  vowred  that 
at  some  future  time  he  would  be  revenged  on  the 
whole  race  of  the  Jews.  I  could  not  have  wished 
affairs  more  favorable  for  my  plans.  A  few  days 
after  entrance  upon  my  menial  service,  I  rode  one 
of  the  Count's  spirited  horses  to  water  at  the  river. 
Another  rider  had  preceded  me.  It  was  a  Hebrew, 
who  wore  a  white  waist-jacket  under  his  great-coat. 
My  charger  shied  at  the  unwonted  appearance  and 
refused  to  go  near  the  water.  This  incident  gave  me 
fair  material  for  fabricating  my  story,  which  I  recited 
to  the  general,  who  just  then  passed  that  way  and 
inquired  of  me  what  was  the  matter  with  the  horse.  I 
stated  to  him  that  I  had  seen  the  Jew  who  preceded 
me  throw  a  corpse  into  the  river.  The  Israelites, 
celebrating  now  their  Passover,  needed  Christian 
blood  for  their  Easter  cakes,  and  had  without  doubt 


226  BEN  BEOR. 

murdered  somebody  for  this  purpose.  The  instinct 
of  the  horse  made  him  refuse  to  touch  the  water,  and 
then,  trembling  with  fear,  he  had  reared  so  wildly 
that  he  nearly  threw  me  out  of  the  saddle.  Nothing 
could  have  been  more  welcome  to  the  already  angered 
official  than  this  plausibly  concocted  report.  He 
made  me  at  once  accompany  him  to  the  castle  and 
there  report  before  my  master  what  I  had  related  to 
him.  Count  Theobold  gave  orders  for  the  arrest  of 
every  Israelite  in  the  city,  about  forty  persons. 
Pulcelina  and  her  parents  were  alone  excepted. 
Criminal  process  was  immediately  instituted,  charg- 
ing them  with  the  imputed  crime  of  murder.  The 
accused  victims,  knowing  the  fearful  dilemma  to  which 
this  consigned  them,  placed  all  their  hopes  upon  the 
great  influence  of  the  fair  Pulcelina.  She  would 
certainly  plead  with  her  friend  the  Count,  and  see  to 
it  that  justice  be  done;  that  their  innocence  of  the 
cruel  charge  might  be  established,  and  that  they  soon 
would  be  set  free  again  from  their  imprisonment. 
But  I  was  determined  that  they  should  not  have  this 
satisfaction.  The  Countess  was  secretly  informed  of 
the  exception  made  in  the  arrest.  She  raged  with 
anger  and  jealousy,  and  then  succeeded  in  the  quar- 
rel which  ensued,  in  making  her  husband  swear 
that  under  no  pretense  he  would  see  or  listen 
to  the  hated  girl.  The  nobleman's  love  of  money 
came  very  near  exculpating  the  accused.  They 
were  requested  by  a  confidential  messenger  to  state 
what  sum  in  gold  they  would  give  for  their  free- 
dom. Consulting  with  some  Christian  friends, 
they  oifered  two  thousand  and  eighty  pounds,  all 
these  poor  people  possessed.  At  the  point  of  accept- 
ing this,  a  fanatical  priest  mixed  himself  up  with 
the  impending  trial,  and  submitted  to  the  Count  that 
such  a  crime  must  not  be  handled  lightly ;  on  the 
contrary,  if  found  substantiated  it  ought  to  be  visited 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  227 

with  heaviest  punishment.  But  on  what  evidence 
were  they  to  be  convicted?  The  only  witness  in  the 
case  was  a  stranger,  an  unknown  person,  but  a  few 
days  in  the  service  of  the  Count,  a  menial,  who 
might  tell  the  truth,  or  have  invented  mischievously 
the  whole  story.  So  a  test  was  proposed,  considered 
infallible  in  those  days.  The  judgment  of  heaven 
was  called  in  to  ascertain  the  veracity  of  my  testi- 
mony. A  boat  on  the  river  was  to  be  filled  with 
water.  In  this  I  was  placed,  and  the  people  of  the 
town  assembled  on  the  river  bank.  Then  the  little 
craft  was  let  go,  to  be  carried  down  by  the  waves. 
If  it  sank  with  its  load,  the  witness  had  lied,  and 
must  perish ;  if  it  swam  and  remained  floating  on 
the  surface,  the  truth  was  established  by  decree  of 
Providence.  Nothing  was  easier  for  me  than  to 
stand  the  ordeal.  As  the  vessel  was  shoved  into  the 
middle  of  the  stream,  I  balanced  its  weight  and  posi- 
tion, so  that  it  could  not  but  move  on  with  the 
velocity  of  the  element.  Waving  my  hat  to  the 
jubilant  masses,  I  sailed  gallantly  down,  and  the 
evidence  was  fully  established — the  Jews  had  com- 
mitted the  murder.  My  friend,  the  priest,  had  seen 
to  it  that  no  more  water  was  put  into  the  hold  of  the 
trial-boat  than  would  cause  it  to  sink  but  a  few 
inches  below  its  usual  draft.  This  hocus-pocus  per- 
formance cost  the  lives  of  the  entire  Jewish  popula- 
tion. In  vain  did  Pulcelina  try  to  gain  admission 
to  her  friend  and  patron.  Watched  by  the  Countess, 
he  refused  to  see  her.  In  her  indignant  anger  she 
tried  to  pass  the  guards  and  force  her  way  into 
the  .castle.  Now  she  was  arrested  and  by  main 
force  dragged  to  prison,  to  be  incarcerated  wifrh  her 
co-religionists.  The  exultant,  victorious  Countess 
sneered  at  the  unfortunate  girl  as  she  was  forced 
away.  By  order  of  Theobold,  the  entire  number  of 
the  Israelites  were  consigned  to  be  burned.  Before  the 


228  BEN  BEOR. 

faggots  were  kindled,  the  pious  priest  called  upon 
the  doomed  people  to  abjure  their  religion  and  be 
baptized ;  that  in  accepting  this  their  lives  would  be 
spared.  But  not  a  single  craven  was  found  among 
the  number  who  would,  in  turning  apostate,  escape 
from  certain  death.  Three  celebrated  scholars, 
Zechiel  ben  David,  Zeohiel  ben  Juda,  and  Juda  ben 
Aaron,  were  selected  as  the  first  to  be  executed. 
These  were  bound  to  the  stakes  and  fire  applied.  The 
flames,  however,  singed  only  the  cords  with  which 
they  were  bound ;  they  tried  to  escape.  Three  times 
the  executioners  forced  them  back;  they  were  con- 
sumed to  ashes.  Thirty-nine  men  and  seventeen 
women  followed  their  awful  fate,  while  chanting  the 
confession  of  their  faith,  by  a  prayer  which  they 
called  the  "  Olinu."  This  happened  on  the  llth  of 
May,  1171.  The  news  of  this  horrible  catastrophe 
spread  quickly  over  the  land.  When  it  reached  the 
city  of  Troy,  a  synod  of  the  French  Rabbins  was 
here  in  session,  ruled  by  the  renowned  Rashi.  The 
Martyr-massacre  was  instituted  forthwith  as  a  day 
of  lamentation,  fasting  and  mourning,  to  be  observed 
in  Israel  forever.  And  well  they  may  so  celebrate 
it!  For  of  all  the  terrible  cruel  ties  heaped  upon  the 
Jews  during  the  past  ages,  none  were  so  freightful  of 
calamitous  consequences  as  this  first  Blood-Accu- 
sation, born  in  the  city  of  Blois.  In  conclusion,  it 
need  but  be  reported  that  the  great  light  of  this 
time,  the  learned,  wise  and  philanthropic  Rabbi 
Solomon  ben  Isaac,  died  a  few  days  after  the  bloody 
event.  The  horrible  cruelty  against  his  innocent, 
defenseless  brethren  is  said  to  have  broken  his  heart. 
When  the  first  excitement  in  Blois  was  over  I 
thought  it  best  to  absent  myself  from  the  loathsome 
scene  where  the  blood-accusation  against  the  Jews 
had  its  birth,  and  move  over  to  Germany  for  the 
further  prosecution  of  my  task  to  trammel  the 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  229 

people  and  uphold  the  thrones  and  churches  by 
inventing  there  some  still  more  powerful  agency  for 
my  evil  purposes. 


PHANTASMAGORIA  XV. 

BLACK  BARTHEL. 

Far  away  in  the  n>ost  northwestern  part  of  Ger- 
many are  the  Hartz  mountains,  dividing  the  waters 
of  two  fine  rivers,  the  Weser  and  the  Elbe.  The 
highest  point  is  the  Brocken,  a  spur  nearly  4,000 
feet  above  the  level  of  the  sea,  overlooking  all  the 
surrounding  country.  The  formation  is  of  feldspatic 
granite,  which  by  its  easy  decomposition  has  caused 
the  majestic  cone  to  assume  a  rounded,  graceful 
form.  Its  gloomy  and  weird  appearance  had  secured 
already  in  earliest  times  the  notorious  reputation  of  its 
being  the  seat  of  evil  spirits,  giving  rise  to  the  folk- 
lore that  here  was  the  devil's  kitchen,  whence  came 
at  midnight  of  the  first  of  May  all  the  witches  and 
wizards,  mounted  on  he-goats  or  broomsticks,  to 
hold  their  infernal  annual  revelry.  It  is  more  than 
likely  that  some  base  heathenish  orgies,  carried  on 
here  in  the  darkness  of  night,  gave  rise  to  the 
myths  which  pass  current  and  are  perpetuated  by 
the  mouths  of  the  superstitious  and  credulous 
peasants  and  miners. 

At  the  beginning  of  the  fourteenth  century  there 
stood  at  the  foot  of  the  imposing  crag  an  old  abbey, 
covered  with  ivy,  one  of  those  grim  and  ghostly- 
looking  cloisters  wherein  the  Franciscan  monks 
held  themselves  aloof  and  secluded  from  the  outer 
world.  It  was  known  that  here  was  collected  one 
of  the  finest  libraries  in  existence,  especially  rich  in 


230  BEN  BEOR. 

valuable  vellum  manuscripts.  It  also  contained  an 
extensive  and  well-stocked  laboratory,  where  mem- 
bers of  the  fraternity  continually  and  industriously 
experimented  with  drugs  and  chemicals.  A.t  that 
time  ecclesiastics  were  exclusively  the  medical  prac- 
titioners. It  was  currently  reported  and  believed 
that  they  also  indulged  in  alchemistic  processes  and 
the  black  arts,  searching  for  the  "  stone  of  wisdom  " 
and  the  "elixir  of  perpetual  life."  Many-colored 
vapors  had  been  seen  at  night  to  rise  from  the  quaint, 
wide-mouthed  chimneys.  Belated  laborers  asserted 
having  heard  strange  and  unearthly  voices  after 
dark.  If  persons  were  compelled  to  pass  here  on 
nocturnal  errands  they  would  hasten  tremblingly 
until  far  out  of  sight  of  the  dreaded  place,  but  most 
people  preferred  to  take  circuitous  routes  leading  to 
their  valley  homes  in  order  to  avoid  the  haunted 
neighborhood.  One  of  the  monks  stood  in  very 
bad  and  awed  repute  with  the  easily  impressed  and 
prejudiced  populace.  The  lank  and  slim  stature  of 
the  brother,  enhanced  by  the  particular  garb  of  the 
order ;  his  wan  and  austere  visage  as  he  peeped  with 
small,  piercing  dark  eyes  from  under  his  cowl, 
frightened  the  common  people  when  he  sallied  forth 
now  and  then  among  them,  forever  muttering  to 
himself.  His  name  was  Berthold  Schwartz,  but  he 
was  called  throughout  the  district  "Black  Bar- 
thel."  Nothing  was  known  of  his  early  life.  He 
came  here  from  Franconia,  bringing  to  the  abbot 
letters  and  credentials  from  the  superior  of  the 
order,  who  recommended  him  as  a  profound  and 
studious  friar,  desirous  of  availing  himself  of  the 
renowned  facilities  stored  in  the  home  he  sought 
here.  The  cell  apportioned  to  him,  adjoining  to  the 
right  the  library  and  to  the  left  the  laboratory,  with 
doors  leading  to  either,  was  the  scene  of  his  regular 
vigils.  Poring  over  the  profound  tomes  or  yellow 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  231 

vellum  rolls,  he  would  now  and  then  rise,  either 
pacing  the  narrow  floor,  or  hurrying  to  the  book- 
shelves, returning  with  an  armful  of  volumes  and 
manuscripts,  or  he  would  hasten  to  the  dimly-lit 
vault  where  piles  of  crucibles  and  experimental 
paraphernalia  were  stored.  Then  he  would  be 
seen  engaged  often  till  daylight  in  mixing  and 
stirring  the  chemical  stuffs,  while  the  perspiration 
stood  in  drops  upon  his  broad  forehead.  Thus  he 
was  occupied  once  near  midnight  when  a  great 
catastrophe  nearly  ended  his  life  and  the  existence 
of  the  abbey.  For  years  the  idiosyncratic  idea  had 
possessed  him  of  inventing  a  combustible  compound 
of  such  high  explosive  power  as  on  ignition  to  throw 
missiles  with  irresistible  velocity.  War,  as  it  had 
been  carried  011  until  now,  was  simply  a  series  of 
single-handed  combats,  with  victory  most  always  on 
the  side  of  superior  brutal  force.  Bows  and  arrows 
were  indeed  in  use,  yet  their  cumbersome  weight,  the 
skill  required  in  handling  them  effectually,  and  the 
quick  expenditure  of  the  barbs  made  them  most 
undesirable  weapons  in  fighting  a  battle.  Incited 
by  a  casual  discovery  in  some  old  archives,  this 
monk  by  incessant  efforts  tried  to  re-discover  what 
he  thought  to  have  been  once  a  well-known  but  now 
totally  forgotten  art  of  scientifically  preparing  the 
ingredients.  He  knew  well  by  long  meditations 
and  calculations  what  ponderous  revolutions  such  a 
destructive  agency  surely  would  work  in  behalf  of 
the  governing  powers,  the  strengthening  of  whose 
hands  meant  at  all  times  also  the  propping  of  the 
Catholic  altars.  Waking  or  dreaming,  the  object  of 
his  ambition  was  before  his  eyes.  Every  disappoint- 
ment or  failure  in  his  never-ceasing  experiments 
only  fired  his  blood  and  mind  to  new  efforts.  Year 
after  year  he  had  spent  thus  far  with  research,  study 
and  practical  tests.  In  this  memorable  night,  how- 


232  BEN  BEOK. 

ever,  his  prodigious  labors  should  at  last  and  unex- 
pectedly be  crowned  with  final  success.  As  the 
chapel  belfry  sounded  the  hour  of  twelve  he  sat 
before  his  long  table  with  numberless  books  and 
parchments  open  before  him.  They  all  treated  of 
that  same  subject  with  which  his  mind  was  filled. 
Absorbed  in  deep  thought,  the  whole  material  once 
again  passed  in  review  before  his  memory.  On  a 
table  lay  this  memorandum,  extracted  from  the 
various  sources  of  historical  collections: 

1.  The  Chinese,  about  80  A.  D.,  had  obtained 
knowledge  from  India  concerning  a  certain  powerful 
explosive. 

2.  Julius  Africanus  describes  vaguely  its  prepar- 
ation, in  the  year  215. 

3.  Callinicus   of   Heliopolis   introduces    Greek 
fire  to  the  Byzantines  about  668  A.  D. 

4.  The  Arabs  used  fire-arms  against  Mecca  on  or 
about  690  A.  D. 

5.  The  Emperor  Leo  employs  such  in  the  year  811. 

6.  Marcus  Gracchus,  a  Greek  author,  describes  an 
explosive  mixture,  846  A.  D. 

7.  Leo,  the  Philosopher,  makes  rockets  for  the 
army  of  the  Eastern  Empire,  880  A.  D. 

8.  King  Solomon  of  Hungaria  bombards  Belgrade 
with  cannons,  1073  A.  D. 

9.  In  a  battle  near  Toledo,  the  ships  of  Tunis 
shoot  "fiery  thunder,"  1083  A.  D. 

10.  The  Greek  ships  used   artillery  against  the 
Pisans  in  the  year  1098  A.  D." 

11.  The  Tartars  employ  "  fire-pipes"  against  the 
Chinese,  1232  A.  D. 

12.  Don  Jaime  throws  into  Valencia  fiery  balls 
which  burst,  in  the  year  1238  A.  D. 

13.  Seville  is  bombarded  with  artillery,  1247  A.  D. 

14.  Damietta   was   defended   against    St.    Louis 
with  bombs,  1249  A.  D. 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  233 

15.  Albertus  Magnus,  a  monk,  is    said  to  have 
invented    "  bombardam    barbardulam    et  scolpum 
manualum,"  1280  A.  D. 

1 6.  A  fire-shooting  cannon  is  placed  in  the  arsenal 
at  Amberg,  Bavaria,  1303  A.  D. 

17.  The  Spaniards  have  artillery  and  use  it  before 
Gibraltar,  1308  A.  D. 

18.  Henry  VII  bombards  Brescia  with  "thunder 
guns/7 1311  A.  D. 

19.  The  Arabs  have  cannons  before  Baza,  1312 
A.  D. 

20.  Martos  is  attacked  with  artillery,  1326  A.  D. 
The  last  instance  is  only  four  years  ago ;  for  it  is 

now  the  division  hour  of  the  end  of  April  and  the 
beginning  of  May  1330.  A  fearful  storm  prevails 
outside.  Incessant  heavy  rain  clatters  with  hideous 
noise  on  the  roof.  Sheets  of  lightning  and  terrible 
peals  of  thunder  vary  with  the  howling,  whistling 
winds,  raging  down  from  the  cloud-capped  moun- 
tain into  the  valley  wrapped  in  Egyptian  darkness. 
All  this  passes  unnoticed  by  the  unconcerned  monk, 
whose  whole  attention  is  engrossed,  as  if  enchanted 
by  his  absorbing  speculations.  All  at  once  he  rises 
and  runs  with  eager  steps  to  the  laboratory.  He 
quickly  lights  the  astral  lamp  which  hangs  from 
the  ceiling,  and  which  now  sheds  a  ghostly  yellow 
flame  over,  the  dusty,  smoke-begrimed  and  cob- 
webbed  premises.  Then  he  lifts  the  big  iron  mortar 
and  carries  it  to  the  pedestal  in  the  centre ;  the  burden 
of  heavy  weight  taxes  all  his  strength.  Now  he 
brings  the  pestle  and  puts  it  in  its  place.  Next  he 
hurries  to  different  jars  placed  upon  the  multifarious 
shelves,  takes  them  down  and  weighs  out.  from  the 
contents  certain  quantities,  such  as  he  has  marked 
upon  a  sheet  of  vellum  which  he  holds  in  his  hands. 
First  a  quantity  of  nitre  carefully  measured  ;  to  this 
he  adds  a  less  amount  of  sulphur.  Rubbing  these 


234  BEN  BEOR. 

up  carefully  in  the  mortar,  he  now  pours  in  some 
charcoal,  and  manipulates  these  ingredients  into  one 
compact  and  congruous  mass.  As  he  bends  panting 
over  this  exhaustive  process,  suddenly  the  whole 
area  is  lit  up  with  a  ghastly  sheen,  by  a  stray  bolt 
of  lightning  which  strikes  stunningly  into  the  mortar, 
shattering  it  and  its  inflammable  contents  into 
myriads  of  atoms,  hurling  the  dazed  monk  uncon- 
scious to  the  far  off  trembling  wall,  and  shaking  the 
whole  massive  structure  as  if  it  were  a  spinning-top 
whipped  by  the  hands  of  a  mischievous  urchin.  To 
the  hapless  friar,  sitting  recumbent  against  a  heav- 
ing column,  it  seemed  as  if  some  supernatural  power 
had  dealt  a  fearful  blow  upon  his  bursting  skull. 
Visions  of  most  horrible  and  terrible  phantoms 
pass  in  quick  and  staggering  succession  before  his 
dilated  eyes : 

Mountains  of  bleeding  and  mutilated  corpses; 
piled-up  stacks  of  quivering,  moving  limbs  ;  cracked 
skulls  covered  with  squirming  brains  and  shooting 
rays  of  blood;  millions  of  agonized  human  features 
in  the  last  throes  of  death;  widows  wringing  their 
hands  over  their  heads  in  wild  despair;  little  orphans 
with  pinched,  starved  features,  prostrate  on  their 
backs,  glaring  imploringly  with  their  lusterless  eyes 
to  heaven;  ravaged  farms  with  the  harvest  of  the 
year  trodden  in  seas  of  mire,  while  the  buzzards  and 
ravens  hover  over  the  carcasses  of  slain  men  and 
beasts ;  flaming,  burning,  smoking  cities,  whence 
the  pallid,  fleeing  and  despairing  inhabitants  fill  the 
air  with  the  sobs  of  the  women  and  children  and  the 
cursing  maledictions  vociferating  from  the  maddened 
and  despairing  men ;  armies  swaying  to  and  fro,  now 
jubilantly  victorious,  intoxicated  with  success  ;  now 
howling  and  crazed  in  dismay  by  being  beaten  to 
flight  and  annihilation;  now  nations  in  drunken 
exultation  kneeling  in  brutal  victory  upon  the  necks 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  235 

of  their  foes;  now  the  same  overthrown,  mangled 
and  shackled  in  chains  and  expiring  in  defeated 
despair.  As  all  these  move  before  his  vista  in  gory 
procession,  amidst  deafening  noise  and  clash  of  bat- 
tle, at  last  a  gaunt-looking,  hollow-eyed  woman, 
with  disheveled  hair  flowing  wild  in  the  wind,  her 
arms  pinioned  at  her  back  by  chains,  her  hands 
grasping  a  broken  sword,  upon  the  rusty  blade  of 
which  stands  in  faded  letters  "  Liberty,"  is  led  with  a 
rope  tightly  bound  around  her  emaciated  waist,  by  a 
figure  resembling  Black  Barthel's  own  features  and 
form,  wearing  instead  of  the  cowl  and  garb  of  the 
friar  a  blood-red  mantle  and  brandishing  an  execu- 
tioner's axe,  while  around  him  dance  demons  and 
goblins  with  horrible  gesticulations  and  mad  capers, 
all  screeching :  "Accursed !  Accursed !  and  thrice 
Accursed ! " 

The  alarmed  brotherhood  came  running  in  and 
found  him  amidst  the  chaos  of  destruction,  lying 
mangled  under  the  debris  of  the  fearfully  effective 
explosion  which  had  taken  place  but  a  short  while 
ago.  Carried  into  the  fresh  air,  and  with  careful 
nursing,  he  was  soon  brought  back  to  conscious- 
ness, and  after  a  while  restored  to  health.  But 
the  terror  that  should  make  such  indiscriminate 
havoc  and  hurl  such  deathful  misery  upon  the 
future  human  world  was  born,  and  its  author,  with 
results  and  influences  written  with  blood  and  tears 
in  the  pages  of  history,  went  into  the  shivering  world 
k>  reap  his  baneful  triumphs,  which  ultimately 
should  achieve  and  complete  the  appalling  business 
of  "Black  Barthel,"  alias  "Ben  Beor,  the  Wander- 
ing Gentile." 


236  BEN  BEOR. 

PHANTASMAGORIA  XVI. 

THE   FLAGELLANTS. 

Section  I. — How  Strasburg  Became  Free. 

Gunpowder  had  been  invented !  It  was  soon  to 
prove  one  of  the  greatest  agencies  of  despotism. 
Crowned  heads,  potentates  and  governments  were 
now  everywhere  engaged,  but  especially  on  the 
European  continent,  in  introducing  this  new  explo- 
sive. Each  watched  the  other  to  ascertain  which 
should  make  the  quickest  progress  and  provide  the 
largest  number  of  weapons  for  its  use. 

All  former  standards  of  national  strength  were 
useless.  Now  a  child  might  slay  a  giant,  and  the 
weak  might  rival  the  strong.  Other  matters  seemed 
momentarily  and  universally  suspended,  even  those 
of  importance  were  overlooked  and  for  the  time 
being  set  aside  during  this  engrossing  commotion 
and  unprecedented  activity. 

Yet  this  very  period  became  so  awful  in  its  aspect 
by  the  accumulation  of  untoward,  terrible  circum- 
stances as  to  defy  all  human  efforts  either  for  its 
relief  or  amelioration. 

Contrary  to  every  expectation,  this  was  not  to 
transpire  through  the  newly  invented  agent,  but  by 
two  forces,  one  of  natural  origin,  the  breaking  out 
of  the  "Asiatic  Pestilence";  (he  other  by  my  undying, 
ever -increasing  hatred,  striding  on  in  the  blighting, 
sickening  wake  of  the  all-consuming  epidemic. 
Both  threatened  the  extinction  of  church,  state  and 
people,  irrespective  of  position,  wealth  or  religious 
differences.  It  happened  in  this  wise: 

Eight  armies  had  at  different  intervals,  under 
historically  renowned  leaders,  with  ever-shifting 
results,  carried  on  as  Crusaders  the  monomaniac 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  237 

idea  of  conquering  the  Holy  Land,  extinguishing 
Mosleism  and  substituting  Christianity.  These  ef- 
forts, ever  futile  in  the  end,  had  depopulated  Europe 
of  some  of  her  most  robust  and  powerful  elements. 
Nay,  when  the  Crusaders  were  at  their  height,  the 
very  children,  a  juvenile  army  with  no  other 
weapons  than  shepherd's  crooks,  proposed  to  anni- 
hilate the  cursed  Saracen.  Led  by  some  blinded 
elder  enthusiasts,  they  perished  by  the  thousands, 
as  the  w of ul  annals  of  the  horrible  "Children's 
Crusade"  record  in  the  year  1212.  It  sapped  even 
the  future  possible  recuperation,  by  the  destruction 
of  a  large  part  of  the  rising  generation.  The  imme- 
diate results  of  such  a  wanton  upheaval  stagnated 
all  agriculture  and  industry,  blighted  commerce, 
trade  and  art,  changed  prosperous  nations  into  a 
horde  of  vagabonds  and  reckless  paupers.  It  con- 
sumed the  substance  and  inheritances  of  princes  and 
nobles,  who  in  the  splendor  of  their  accoutrements 
and  the  number  of  their  followers  spent  large  sums. 
These,  in  order  to  raise  the  ever -requisite  funds, 
pawned  their  family  plate  and  mortgaged  their 
estates  to  the  Hebrews.  That  indomitable  race,  in 
possession  of  money  accumulating  in  their  provident 
and  cunning  hands,  remained  at  home,  though  re- 
peatedly assailed,  persecuted  and  murdered  by  the 
crazed  mobs,  and  not  unfrequently  brought  to  the 
very  extreme  of  utter  annihilation,  yet  they  man- 
aged to  re-establish  themselves  better  than  ever 
before  after  the  comparatively  short  interval  of  not 
quite  three  centuries. 

Especially  fortunate  was  ,the  condition  of  the 
Jews  in  the  city  of  Strasburg,  on  the  borders  of 
France  and  Germany.  I  passed  through  there  on 
my  way  to  Italy.  To  my  amazement  I  found  here 
a  condition  of  things  which,  on  account  of  the  wide 
extent  of  prej  udice  between  the  Arians  and  Semites, 


238  BEN   BEOR. 

seemed  nearly  incredible.  The  strongly  pronounced 
qualities  of  the  slow  but  thoughtful  Teutonic  char- 
acter were  here  finely  blended  with  the  more  vivid 
and  sprightly  nature  of  the  Latin  races,  dwelling 
together  peacefully  and  amicably  on  the  beautiful 
left  border  of  the  Rhine.  To  these  were  added  a 
comparatively  large  proportion  of  the  Hebrews,  who 
had  found  here  at  the  earliest  time  of  their  disper- 
sion undisturbed  and  prosperous  homes.  They 
mingled  freely  with  their  tolerant  fellow-citizens, 
contributing  many  peculiar  traits  of  thriftiness, 
industry  and  domesticity  to  the  tone  of  their  sur- 
roundings. The  malignant  influences  of  clannishness, 
prejudice  and  hatred  were  strangers  to  the  cosmo- 
politan spirit  permeating  all  classes  of  society. 
General  prosperity,  contentment  and  progressive 
growth  were  the  leading  chords  harmonizing  the  hum 
and  bustle  of  the  life  of  this  splendid  city.  For 
many  years  the  people  had  been  ruled  by  a  kind  of 
dual  government.  The  "Dome-Capital/'  presided 
over  by  a  "Cardinal-Bishop/7  possessed  full  power 
over  all  spiritual  and  educational  affairs,  and  exer- 
cised a  limited  supervision  over  the  municipal 
departments.  As  owners  of  one  of  the  finest  and 
most  renowned  cathedrals  of  the  world,  endowed 
with  rich  and  plethoric  incomes,  the  church  required 
hardly  any  tithes  from  the  citizens.  Following  a 
religious  and  political  policy  which  was  neither 
oppressive  nor  intolerant,  the  course  of  events,  as 
far  as  this  part  of  the  rulers  was  concerned,  rolled 
on  smoothly  and  satisfactorily.  No  rupture  of  any 
consequence  occurred  for  centuries.  The  civil  part, 
called  "La  Mairie,"  was  elective,  and  consisted  of  a 
president,  titled  "Lc  Maire,"  and  two  members 
named  "La  Commune." 

The  reigning  prelate,   Monseignor  de  Berthold, 
had,  however,  lately  changed  all  these  former  peace- 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  239 

able  conditions.  The  second  son  of  a  princely  house, 
he  had  been  in  earliest  youth,  by  hereditary  custom, 
assigned  to  the  ministry.  The  tendency  of  his  whole 
character  would  have  fitted  him  better  for  any  other 
than  a  holy  calling.  Worldly,  sensuous,  impassioned 
and  crafty;  gross  in  his  appetites,  ill-humored  and 
treacherous,  he  possessed  not  a  single  quality  credit- 
able to  the  high  church  position  which  was  procured 
for  him  by  his  all-powerful  relatives  and  friends. 
The  wise  and  temperate  policy  which  had  been  so 
favorably  pursued  by  a  long  line  of  his  predeces- 
sors, was  entirely  ignored  and  set  aside  by  the 
young  man.  Intrigues  and  schemes  to  increase  his 
power  and  wealth  followed  one  another.  The  sacred 
shepherd's  crook,  the  ecclesiastical  bishopric-emblem, 
changed  into  a  tyrannical  rod,  dealing  cruel  blows 
upon  his  helpless  subjects.  Nothing  prevented  his 
overriding  the  ancient  rights  and  privileges  of  the 
communality  but  the  sturdy  and  unbending  determin- 
ation of  the  "  Maire,"  Conrad  de  Winterthur  and 
his  two  worthy  associates,  Gosse  Sturm  and  Peter 
Schwarber.  The  choice  of  the  people  could  not  have 
fallen  upon  more  faithful  and  sterling  servants  than 
these  three  representatives,  tried  and  proven  in  the 
hours  of  great  peril  which  would  have  overwhelmed 
the  good  city  but  for  their  unselfish  devotion,  zeal 
and  patriotism. 

In  the  ensuing  struggle  between  the  priest  and  the 
community  I  managed  to  take  a  peculiar  part.  On 
the  day  and  the  hour  of  my  arrival  I  found  the 
street  lined  with  people,  following  a  grotesquely 
gotten-up  funeral  cortege.  The  hearse  was  drawn 
by  a  couple  of  diminutive  donkeys  draped  in  black, 
each  with  a  little  cap  fastened  to  the  ears.  Every 
step  caused  the  tinkling  of  small  bells  which  orna- 
mented their  headgear,  also  very  profusely  distributed 
over  the  fringed  seams  of  their  mourning  attire.  A 


240  BEN  BEOR. 

coffin,  striped  black  and  red,  bore  a  cap  similar 
to  those  on  the  donkeys7  heads,  only  much  larger 
and  ornamented  with  gilt  embroidery.  The  cas- 
ket contained  the  dead  body  of  the  bishop's  harlequin, 
whose  premature  demise  had  taken  place  but  a  day 
ago.  A  long  train  of  acolytes  in  their  altar  garbs 
followed,  and  the  procession  closed  up  with  an 
official  herald,  who  cried  out,  "Our  fool  is  dead — 
who  will  be  a  living  fool?"  It  was  certainly  the 
funniest  and  yet  the  saddest  exhibition  I  ever  wit- 
nessed, and  numbers  of  the  lookers-on  must  have 
been  impressed  with  the  same  idea,  for  while  many 
mouths  were  seen  with  broad  grins,  yet  tears 
flowed  at  the  same  time  from  the  laugher's  eyes.  I 
hastened  away,  but  next  day  presented  myself  in  the 
most  grotesque  attire  before  his  Eminence  as  a  can- 
didate for  the  vacant  position  of  his  jester.  After 
having  given  eminent  proof  of  the  agility  of  my 
limbs  and  the  versatility  of  my  tongue,  I  was  readily 
accepted  and  quickly  installed  as  the  official  fool  of 
his  Eight  Reverence  the  Cardinal  Bishop  of  Stras- 
burg.  If  ever  I  was  in  right  position  for  mischief 
and  evil,  it  was  in  the  new  career  which  opened  now 
before  me.  I  became  a  constant  and  indispensable 
attendant  at  the  priest's  palace,  and  by  my  inex- 
haustible fund  of  wit,  satire  and  humor  kept  the 
light-headed  prelate  in  an  almost  continual  roar  of 
laughter.  Pandering  assiduously  to  all  his  base- 
ness and  vices,  cunningly  I  contrived  many  kinds  of 
intrigues  for  his  insatiable  lechery,  led  him  into  low 
sorts  of  escapades  and  adventures,  thereby  becoming 
soon  the  envied,  all-powerful,  confidential  favorite 
among  his  clerical  subordinates  and  numerous  lay- 
servants. 

Often  we  would  wander  in  disguise  through  high- 
ways" and  byways  in  search  of  some  new  love- 
intrigue,  none  of  which  was  too  bold  or  too  criminal 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  241 

for  my  master.  On  the  contrary,  the  more  outrage- 
ous our  proceedings,  the  more  spicy  it  proved  for 
his  coarse  and  ever-craving  appetite.  On  the  last  of 
these  expeditions  we  chanced  one  evening  to  pass 
the  house  of  the  Chief  Magistrate.  The  balcony 
was  lit  up  by  a  flood  of  light,  streaming  out  from 
the  profusion  of  lamps  burning  within.  An  old 
crone,  no  doubt  the  mother,  was  sitting  upon  a  rus- 
tic settee  by  a  youthful  maiden,  both  engaged  in 
earnest  and  animated  conversation.  I  punched  my 
companion  playfully  and  jovially  in  the  ribs  and 
exclaimed,  "  Here  is  meat  for  your  sport !  "  He 
seemed  perfectly  beside  himself,  and  gazed  and  gazed 
as  if  he  might  swallow  the  unexpected  sight  with 
his  glaring  eyes.  "A  thousand  ducats!"  he  cried 
out  at  last,  "if  you  get  me  the  prize,  and  a 
thousand  more  if  you  bring  her  to  me  without  much 
delay!" 

I  vaulted  over  the  palisades  and  stood  bowing  and 
scraping  before  the  much  astonished  and  frightened 
females,  and  unhesitatingly  addressed  myself  to  the 
old  dame :  "  I  beg  your  thousand  pardons  for  the  rude 
intrusion,  but  my  master  and  princely  lord  has  just 
now  dropped  right  here  before  your  door  a  ring, 
an  heirloom  of  priceless  value.  Despite  of  all  our 
search  we  have  not  been  able  to  find  it.  He  stands 
yonder  in  great  despair  and  uneasiness  for  his  loss. 
Might  we  beseech  you  to  order  some  of  your  servants 
to  come  out  with  lights  and  assist  us  in  recovering 
the  valuable  jewel?"  Scared  as  were  the  ladies, 
audacious  as  were  my  proceedings  and  as  was  the 
excuse,  the  women  soon  became  composed,  and  the 
daughter  spoke  out  first.  "  To  be  sure,  dear  mother, 
we  cannot  deny  so  reasonable  a  request;  let  me  call 
the  porter  and  coachman  to  help  with  their  lanterns 
to  search  for  the  missing  ring."  She  had  risen  and 
was  about  to  call  the  servants,  when  there  was 


242  BEN  BEOR. 

heard  a  great  noise  and  commotion  from  below,  and 
forthwith  a  crowd  of  officers  of  the  law,  led  by  an 
old  Jew,  rushed  from  within  to  the  balcony,  dragging 
my  patron  a  prisoner  to  our  presence.  They  were 
closely  followed  by  the  master  of  the  house  and  a 
host  of  angry  citizens.  'I  was  bound  and  shackled. 
Lights  being  brought,  we  were  unceremoniously  and 
rudely  divested  of  our  disguises.  Imagine  the  sur- 
prise and  consternation  of  the  crowd  to  behold  in 
the  captured  suspects  their  Cardinal  Bishop  and  his 
clown.  Here  was  a  cruel  revelation.  For  some 
time  criminal  acts  of  the  lowest  and  most  aggravating 
type  had  been  secretly  committed  during  nightfall, 
not  unfrequently  in  the  heart  of  the  city.  The  per- 
petrators had  not  been  discovered,  but  public  indig- 
nation rose  to  fever-heat.  In  this  emergency  a 
band  of  detectives  were  secretly  established.  At 
their  head  stood  Conrad  de  AVinterthur,  aided  by 
his  two  colleagues.  They  called  into  requisition 
the  assistance  and  services  of  a  trusted  and  widely- 
known  friend,  the  Hebrew  banker  Lionel.  He  had 
distinguished  himself  greatly  on  previous  occasions 
for  his  fine  detective  traits,  being,  notwithstanding 
his  many  years,  shrewd,  quick  in  understanding, 
tireless  in  every  effort,  and  watchful  with  an  exhaust- 
less  patience  when  once  his  energies  were  aroused. 
A  number  of  the  leaders  and  their  companions 
had  been  assembled  on  this  very  evening  at  a 
favorite  public  wine-hall,  unostentatiously  but 
conveniently  located  in  some  obscure  part  of  the 
town.  Here  they  were  eagerly  discussing  the  all- 
engrossing  subject  of  their  mission,  when  suddenly 
the  Hebrew,  who  faced  the  open  window,  sprang 
to  his  feet  and  pointed  to  two  figures,  who  just 
flitted  stealthily  at  a  great  pace  by  the  house. 
"FoMow  me!"  cried  the  excited  old  man,  and  in  an 
instant  the  whole  crowd,  without  any  noise,  issued 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  243 

forth  in  pursuit  of  the  strangely-moving  rovers. 
To  their  astonishment,  the  way  led  right  to  the  chief 
magistrate's  residence,  and  from  a  convenient  nook 
they  nx)t  only  observed  the  movements  of  the  unsus- 
pecting intruders,  but  overheard  every  word  of  their 
conversation,  ending  in  the  remarkable  sequel  of  the 
capture  of  us  the  surprised  miscreants. 

His  Eminence,  with  the  most  crestfallen,  sheepish- 
looking  countenance,  asked  to  be  permitted  to  return 
to  the  cathedral  residence,  and  promised  all  and 
everything  if  given  our  freedom.  But  the  citizens 
would  not  listen  to  his  entreaties  nor  enter  into  any 
compromise.  They  escorted  us  to  the  Mairie.  As 
the  strange  procession  moved  through  the  streets, 
lit  up  by  the  torches  of  the  ever-swelling  crowd, 
the  report  of  our  capture  spread  quickly  through 
the  city  and  a  storm  of  revolution  broke  forth  with 
such  fury  as  to  threaten  our  lives.  But  we  reached 
at  last  our  destination  in  safety,  were  ushered  into 
some  of  the  upper  chambers,  and  locked  up  with 
the  authorities.  The  clangor  of  the  bells,  ringing 
soon  from  every  steeple,  brought  forth  the  "garde 
nationale,"  and  these  received  orders  to  take  charge 
of  and  protect  the  public  building.  Part  of  the  mob 
that  had  soon  congregated  surged  and  raged  here, 
clamoring  for  the  surrender  of  the  captives ;  part 
hurried  to  the  Bishop's  palace,  sacked  it  and  liber- 
ated some  of  the  immured  female  victims,  who  had 
been  from  time  to  time  kidnapped  and  had  mysteri- 
ously disappeared.  Our  trial  lasted  till  morning. 
I  pretended  to  be  the  principal  malefactor.  In  this  I 
was  stoutly  seconded  by  my  abjectly  cowed  confed- 
erate. But  we  both  being  under  no  other  jurisdic- 
tion than  that  of  the  Church  of  Rome,  they  agreed 
to  my  perpetual  banishment  from  the  city  and  the 
waiving  of  any  further  investigations  of  the  terrible 
scandal,  on  condition  of  the  absolute  abdication  now 


244  BEN  BEOR. 

and  forever  of  the  Dome-Capital's  secular  power, 
authority  or  vested  rights  in  the  government  of 
Strasburg,  which  henceforth  and  for  all  time  to  come 
was  to  be  declared  a  free  city  of  the  realm.  Such 
had  been  long  since  the  effort  and  ambition  of  this 
community.  It  was  all  agreed  to,  signed  and  sealed. 
At  daybreak  the  great  bell  of  the  Mairie  was  rung,  and 
soon  the  people  were  assembled  in  front  of  the  place. 
Here  the  proclamation  was  read  to  the  multitude, 
and  the  charter  of  their  municipal  liberty  accepted 
by  them  amidst  wild  shouts  of  joy  and'  approval. 
A  safeguard  was  then  given  to  his  Eminence  to 
bring  him  safely  to  the  cathedral ;  another  was  ap- 
pointed to  escort  me  over  the  boundaries  of  the  town. 
We  left  amidst  the  groans  and  hisses  of  the  masses, 
but  monseignor,  no  doubt,  as  well  as  myself,  consid- 
ered that  we  got  off  lightly  from  the  ugly  predicament. 
Thus  ended  the  first  episode  in  the  fearful  drama 
that  was  shortly  to  be  enacted  here,  as  well  as  in  all 
parts  of  the  European  continent. 

Section  II. — The  Pestilence. 

From  where  my  tormentors  left  me,  I  proceeded 
slowly  and  gloomily  southwards.  My  mind  was 
cast  down  with  the  exasperating  reflection  that  every 
effort  which  I  had  made  thus  far  for  achieving  the 
goal  of  my  ambition,  to  hold  down  the  people  in 
ignorance  and  serfdom  by  the  powers  of  tyrannical 
governments  and  the  domineering,  mind-enslaving 
bigotry  of  the  Church,  was  always  frustrated  in  the 
end  by  the  same  agency  of  the  ever-meddling,  refrac- 
tory Jew,  with  the  teachings  of  his  cursed  "Torah." 

From  these  bitter,  aggravating  reveries  I  was 
awakened  by  the  approach  of  a  seemingly  endless 
crowd  of  noisy  revellers,  clad  in  the  most  varied  and 
fantastic  garbs,  males  and  females,  adorned  with  a 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  245 

profusion  of  leaves  and  clusters  of  grapes  from  the 
vineyards.  They  were  celebrating  their  annual 
feast  of  the  vintners,  having  finished  the  work  of 
gathering  the  wine  crop,  and  now  making  a  jolly 
harvest-holiday,  to  compensate  themselves  for  the 
arduous  labors  of  the  past  season.  Preceded  by 
drummers  and  fifers,  they  sang,  shouted  and  gam- 
boled like  a  merry  band  of  children.  When  they 
reached  me,  they  crowded  round  and  pressed  me 
into  their  midst,  adorning  my  hat  and  vestments 
with  the  same  ornaments,  leaves  and  fruits  which 
gave  them  such  a  gladsome  appearance,  insisting 
that  I,  like  every  stranger  whom  they  should  meet 
this  clay,  must  join  their  bacchanalia.  Readily  con- 
senting, I  was  introduced  to  another  of  their  guests 
whom  they  but  a  little  while  ago  had  impressed 
into  their  lines.  He  was  an  old,  weather-beaten, 
battle-scarred,  invalid  soldier.  On  coming  to  a  halt 
for  midday  refreshments  and  rest,  my  companion- 
traveler  told  me  his  story. 

He  was  a  native  of  Strasburg,  had  joined  the 
last  army  of  Crusaders  some  years  ago,  after  end- 
less adventures  and  countless  troubles,  and  after  the 
last  and  final  defeat  of  the  Christians  in  the  Holy 
Land,  joined  a  band  of  returning  marauders,  who 
eagerly  sought  to  make  their  way  back  to  the  old  fath- 
erlands. Driven  by  the  closely  pursuing  Saracens 
into  India,  they  had  fallen  in  with  a  long  proces- 
sion of  Mussulman  pilgrims,  who  returned  from  the 
holy  "  Caaba  "  of  Mecca.  Exhausted  from  fatigue, 
hardships  of  all  kinds,  and  exposed  to  the  deathly 
miasma  and  exhalations  of  the  pestiferous  river 
Ganges,  mortality  was,  and  is  as  usual  with  them,  very 
great.  Hundreds  of  the  afflicted  died  by  the  roadside, 
and  remaining  unburied,  exposed  to  the  sweltering 
heat  of  a  tropical  sun,  added  greatly  by  mortification 
which  set  in,  to  an  ever-increasing  dreadful  and 


246  BEN  BEOE. 

fatal  epidemic.  As  a  matter  of  precaution  for  their 
personal  safety  among  these  fanatics,  they  thought- 
lessly appropriated  some  habiliments  of  the  Arabian 
corpses,  and  thus  disguised  as  natives,  followed 
undetected  among  the  benighted  wanderers.  At 
last  they  reached  the  boundaries  of  Europe,  where 
they  left  the  Mahomedans,  glad  to  part  with  such 
stolid  fellow-travelers.  Soon  they  separated  also, 
taking  the  different  routes  to  their  nativities. 
"Alas !  dear  friend,"  he  continued,  "  I  had  not  trav- 
eled far  when  the  stunning  report  followed  me  that 
some  of  my  companions,  after  reaching  short  dis- 
tances on  their  way,  fell,  overcome  by  the  dread 
disease  which  they  unquestionably  had  contracted  a 
little  while  ago,  and  died  most  horrible  deaths  among 
strangers.  The  worst  feature  in  these  pitiful  cases 
consisted  of  the  fact  that  the  people  who  charitably 
had  aided  the  sufferers  coming  among  them,  caught 
the  infection.  It  spread  with  a  malignity  and  un- 
precedented speed  unknowrn  in  the  annals  of  medical 
science.  All  the  Southern  provinces  of  Russia, 
Austria  and  Italy  are  now  one  great  lazaretto.  The 
physicians  stand  helplessly  by,  unable  to  stay  the 
contagion  or  relieve  the  sufferers.  The  people  die  by 
the  hundreds  and  thousands.  I  deem  myself  excep- 
tionally lucky  for  having  escaped  thus  far  the  dread 
infection,  but  must  own  that  for  several  days  I  have 
not  felt  well,  and  this  morning  was  barely  able  to 
proceed  on  my  journey,  when  I  was  encountered  by 
these  joyous  peasants.  The  excitement  and  novelty  of 
their  proceedings  held  me  up.  lam  now  no  longer 
able  to  move  on.  God  alone  knows  what  is  to  be- 
come of  me ;  I  feel  so  weak,  drowsy  and  confused." 
We  were  sitting  on  a  rustic  bench,  such  as  line 
everywhere  the  French  and  German  highways  for 
the  accommodation  of  tired  travelers.  When  he 
ceased  speaking  his  grizzled  head  sank  on  his  half- 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  247 

bared  breast.  I  quickly  made  room  for  him,  and 
rising,  assisted  the  sick  man  to  stretch  out  on  the 
vacant  place.  As  I  bent  over  him  his  breath  came 
heavy  and  thick,  his  bloodshot  eyes  became  glassy 
and  glaring,  protruding  from  the  sockets.  His  wan 
face  turned  livid  and  then  red  with  fever.  Great 
drops  of  clammy  perspiration  stood  on  his  forehead, 
and  convulsive  twitchings  gave  his  whole  counten- 
ance an  unearthly  appearance.  At  my  request,  he, 
with  a  painful  effort,  opened  his  lips  and  showed 
his  tongue.  It  had  an  unnatural,  chalky-white 
color.  He  begged  for  some  water,  gasping  that  he 
was  burning  up  inside.  There  was  no  mistake  about 
it ;  I  recognized  the  awful  symptoms  from  my  former 
experience ;  it  was  the  dreadful  Asiatic  plague.  Curi- 
osity and  the  so  often  fatal  desire  to  render  help  in 
cases  of  such  emergencies  caused  the  people  to  crowd 
and  press  upon  us.  I  cried  out  to  them  to  keep 
away,  warning  all  that  there  was  deathly  danger 
among  them,  overtaking  surely  such  as  would  insist 
upon  approaching  nearer.  But  none  would  heed 
until  they  had  viewed  the  stricken  victim.  Then 
one  after  the  other  fled,  until  none  were  left  but  the 
village  priest  and  the  burgomaster.  In  counseling 
with  me  what  was  best  to  do  under  the  terrible  cir- 
cumstances, I  advised  that  they  should  procure  a 
vehicle  and  send  the  dying  man  without  delay  to  the 
not  far-off  city  of  Strasburg.  They  engaged  a 
wagon  from  an  adjoining  farm-house,  losing  as  little 
time  as  possible.  The  poor  fellow  was  made  com- 
fortable on  a  litter  of  straw.  Before  the  driver 
started  on  his  errand  of  mercy,  I  drew  a  piece  of 
vellum  from  my  coat-pocket,  and  with  a  pencil  of 
black  lead  wrote  the  following  message  to  his  Honor 
"le  Maire"  of  the  free  city  of  Strasburg: 

"That  you  may  not  think  your  banished  servant 
ungrateful  for  the  leniency  shown  in  his  sentence,  I 


248  BEN  BEOR. 

send  to  you,  by  the  bearer,  the  token  of  my  thanks. 
Cherish  it  as  best  you  and  your  fellow-citizens  may, 
a  gift  from  the  Cardinal's  jester,  whose  true  name  is 
'  Ben  Beor,  the  Wandering  Gentile/ ' 

Section  III. — The  False  Accusation. 

The  two  men  and  my  message  reached  their  desti- 
nation towards  evening.  The  sick  person,  by  this 
time,  was  covered  all  over  with  hard,  dusky  spots, 
each  one  with  a  distinct  head  filled  with  a  dull 
colored  fluid,  around  which  had  formed  gangrenous 
sores,  forming  ugly-looking  carbuncles.  Every  gland 
of  his  body  had  swelled  into  dark,  angry-looking 
inflammations.  He  complained  of  piercing  head- 
ache; that  he  felt  chilled  and  restless,  and  that  his 
limbs  were  no  longer  movable.  His  skin  was  hot 
and  dry,  his  eyes  red  and  muddy,  and  his  tongue 
had  changed  color  from  the  dead-white  to  a  glisten- 
ing black.  The  authorities  sent  him  quickly  to  the 
hospital,  where,  shortly  after  his  admittance,  he  died 
in  the  hands  of  the  physicians.  These  were  greatly 
puzzled  concerning  the  strange  malady  before  them, 
utterly  unknown  in  their  pathological  experience. 
For  the  purpose  of  professional  inquiry,  many  of 
the  medical  men  from  the  city  were  called  in  to 
pass,  by  post-mortem  examination,  upon  the  disease. 
They  allowed  the  festering,  contagion-breeding  corpse 
to  lie  exposed  for  the  entire  following  night  and  day, 
and  finally  agreed  unanimously  that  the  subject  of 
their  investigations  had  died  from  poison.  The  terri- 
ble consequences  of  this  criminal  carelessness  and 
ignorance  were  revealed  in  a  very  short  interval.  In 
a  few  days  the  city  was  under  the  horrible  spell  of 
the  relentless  contagion.  The  sick,  the  dying  and 
dead  were  everywhere.  Doctors,  apothecaries  and 
grave-diggers  were  in  demand  incessantly,  working 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  249 

at  their  sad  occupations  with  hardly  any  respite. 
Not  unfrequently  they  themselves  were  struck  by 
the  pitiless  disease  and  fell  dead  by  the  side  of  others. 
Strange  to  say,  the  driver  of  the  vehicle  who  brought 
the  first  victim  to  the  town  escaped  from  the  black 
demon  of  destruction.  On  returning  to  the  village 
he  reported  the  often -experienced  freaks  of  the 
epidemic ;  that  all  along  the  road  where  he  had  trav- 
eled, although  no  one  had  come  near  him,  there  was 
barely  a  house  spared  by  the  fatal  attack  of  the  un- 
known sickness,  and  that  in  many  instances  whole 
families — the  old  and  the  young — fell  victims  to  an 
untimely  death.  The  villagers,  too,  soon  became 
prostrated,  and  one  after  the  other  lay  down  to  die. 

I  stayed  here  long  enough  to  procure  for  myself  a 
change  of  habiliments.  This  proved  of  consider- 
able difficulty.  The  local  tailor,  a  slow  and  uncouth 
fellow,  had  to  make  each  by  piecemeal,  and,  after 
finishing  a  kind  of  cassock,  occupying  several  days,  he 
too  was  taken  sick.  I  left  and  made  my  way  hur- 
riedly towards  the  boundaries  on  the  road  leading 
into  Switzerland. 

All  along  through  my  journey  and  everywhere 
there  occurred  the  same  appalling  sight  of  the  dying 
and  the  dead.  The  calamity  was  augmented,  if  this 
was  possible,  by  continuous  wild  reports  of  the  spread 
of  the  pestilence,  which  grew  into  monstrous  pro- 
portions. Nothing  could  exceed  the  spectral  sight  of 
men,  with  their  carts  and  wagons,  moving  ghostlike 
from  house  to  house,  gathering  silently  the  coarsely 
made  coffins  containing  corpses  of  many  persons  not 
longer  dead  than  a  few  hours.  It  was  rumored  that 
in  instances  there  were  some  shrived  while  yet  alive. 
Piled  on  top  of  one  another,  these  were  dumped  into 
one  common,  hastily  made,  shallow  grave;  covered 
up  by  the  hirelings  with  indecent  speed  and  coarse 
jests.  Funerals  and  burial-rites  had  long  since 


250  BEN  BEOR. 

ceased.  During  the  rage  of  the  insatiable  plague, 
by  the  instinct  of  self-preservation,  all  human  feel- 
ings, all  social  and  charitable  relations,  all  bonds  and 
ties  between  relatives  and  friends  became  extinct 
and  utterly  abandoned.  On  the  appearance  of  the 
dreaded  symptoms,  known  soon  by  everybody,  child- 
ren would  flee  from  their  parents;  fathers  and  even 
mothers  rush  from  the  houses  when  they  perceived 
their  little  ones  attacked  by  the  malady.  All  dis- 
tinctions between  the  rich  and  the  poor  ceased  to 
exist.  Money  and  its  value  had  no  longer  purchas- 
ing powers.  The  fangs  of  destruction  were  fastened 
indiscriminately  upon  the  prince  and  the  beggar, 
the  high  and  the  low,  the  priests  and  the  laymen, 
the  young  and  the  old,  the  strong  and  the  weak. 
Only  one  class,  by  common  and  exasperating  report, 
escaped  to  a  most  remarkable  extent  the  all-blighting 
ravages  of  the  infectious  curse.  Everywhere  it  was 
noticed,  and  became  visible  to  the  enraged,  half- 
crazed  masses,  that  the  Jews  enjoyed  to  a  wonderful 
degree  immunity  from  the  fatal  pestilence.  But 
they  were  soon  to  suffer  for  this  phenomenal  fact, 
otherwise  and  with  cruel  fatality. 

By  this  time  I  had  arrived  at  the  beautifully 
located  French  border  village  Yilleneuve.  It  looks 
like  a  garden,  surrounded  with  evergreen  hills, 
forming  vineyards,  set  off  picturesquely  by  innumer- 
able arbors  of  prune  and  apple  trees ;  while  the 
quaint-colored  cottages,  strung  out  in  broad  avenues, 
each  standing  in  the  midst  of  flower  and  vegetable 
gardens,  gave  it  the  appearance  of  an  idyllic  para- 
dise. Only  in  the  southern  outskirts  stood  a  cluster 
of  shabby-looking  houses,  separated  from  the  rest  by 
high  walls.  This  was  the  quarter  of  the  Hebrews. 

Near  this  secluded  spot  I  found,  after  much  trou- 
ble and  many  inquiries,  a  place  of  shelter  with  a 
very  old  woman  who  had  a  spare  room  and  was  glad 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  251 

in  her  loneliness  and  straitened  means  to  find  a 
guest.  She  was  entirely  ignorant  of  the  general 
calamitous  suffering  that  had  befallen  her  neighbors, 
living  isolated  and  unconcerned  of  what  was  going 
on  in  the  outer  world.  Being  hard  of  hearing  and 
of  very  bad  eyesight,  people  were  not  accustomed  to 
trouble  her  with  many  visits;  and,  although  she  was 
aware  that  something  unusual  and  exciting  was  trans- 
piring among  the  townsfolk,  she  did  not  care  to  make 
particular  inquiries,  and  the  sufferers  had  no  time 
nor  inclination  to  communicate  to  her  any  of  the  sor- 
rowful details. 

The  reason  why  I  desired  to  tarry  in  this  some- 
what out-of-the-way  place  w^as  this : — I  learned, 
while  coming  hither,  that  several  governments,  in 
conjunction  with  the  ecclesiastical  authorities,  had 
appointed  a  commission  to  investigate  here  a  fearful, 
wide-spread  rumor  concerning  the  origin  of  the 
pestilence.  It  was  charged  everywhere  that  there 
existed  among  the  Israelites  all  over  the  continent  a 
foul  conspiracy  to  exterminate  the  Christians  by 
poisoning  the- waters  of  the  rivers,  the  wells,  drink- 
ing fountains  and  cisterns.  Foolish  and  crazy  as 
this  wild  accusation  should  have  appeared,  yet  the 
excited  and  frenzied  state  of  the  people  grasped  at 
anything  amidst  the  disorder  and  lawlessness,  upon 
which  to  spend  their  pent-up  wrath,  caused  by  misery 
and  despair.  No  one  could  have  been  more  eager 
than  I  to  foster  the  damnable  illusion,  visibly  preg- 
nant with  the  worst  consequences  to  the  maligned 
suspects ;  and  therefore  \vas  firmly  resolved  to  take  a 
hand  in  the  coming  persecutions,  which  hung  like  a 
dark  cloud  in  the  horizon.  Affairs  soon  transpired 
in  my  personal  concerns  which  prospered  my  outra- 
geous designs. 

I  needed  some  more  clothing,  and  was  directed  by 
my  landlady  for  the  procurement  of  the  same  to  the 


252  BEN  BEOR. 

"  Ghetto,"  where,  as  she  stated,  there  lived  a  widow, 
Madame  Bellieta,  and  her  son  Aquet,  who  kept  a  com- 
plete store  of  men's  wear  which  they  brought  from 
Paris.  Thither,  then,  I  repaired.  To  my  agree- 
able surprise,  I  found  in  the  proprietress  a  com- 
paratively young,  buxom  and  comoly  woman.  Her 
son,  a  youth,  was,  however,  one  of  the  lower  type  of 
his  people;  dark,  long-nosed,  shrewd  and  obsequious. 
I  was  soon  suited,  and  to  their  surprise  paid  without 
disputing  the  price  demanded  for  my  purchases. 
The  son  carried  the  goods  to  my  quarters,  and  while 
he  was  away  I  entered  into  a  lively  conversation 
with  the  sprightly  and  affable  widow.  On  inquiry, 
I  found  that  they  have  had  but  few  sick  and  only  one 
death  up  to  this  time  from  the  pestilence  in  the 
Ghetto.  Pressing  for  an  explanation  of  this  curious 
phenomenal  fact,  she  made  the  following  statement :  - 
"  We  Israelites  observe  strictly  the  Mosaic  dietary 
Iaw7s.  By  these  we  abstain  entirely  from  the  use  of 
swine's  meat.  Unquestionably,  this  plentiful  source 
of  our  Christian  neighbor's  food  contains  largely  the 
germs  favorable  to  the  spread  of  any  contagious  dis- 
ease. No  less  do  we  most  scrupulously  exclude 
blood  in  any  shape  from  our  victuals.  This  is,  per- 
haps, another  of  the  principal  reasons  of  our  con- 
tinued good  health.  Animals  killed  by  our  officials 
are  only  permitted  as  food  if  physically  sound. 
For  this  purpose  the  lungs  and  vitals,  especially  of 
any  beef-creature,  must  be  carefully  and  scientifically 
examined  and  pronounced  in  a  healthy  state,  before 
the  seal  of  approval  for  the  sale  of  the  meat  is 
placed  on  the  carcass.  Every  drop  of  the  life  fluid 
must  be  separated.  Our  women,  as  matter  of  pre- 
caution, leave  meat  before  cooking  an  hour  in  salt, 
and  again  in  water.  Besides  these,  other  precaution- 
ary measures  are  taken,  especially  in  times  of  danger, 
to  keep  our  habitations  and  streets  as  clean  and  pure 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  253 

as  it  possibly  can  be  done  in  our  narrow  and  crowded 
surroundings.  This,  and  many  other  sanitary  mat- 
ters, inclusive  of  the  most  unselfish  care  for  the  sick 
and  the  prompt  burial  of  the  dead,  are  entrusted  to 
the  charge  of  a  benevolent  and  powerful  society,  a 
leading  branch  of  the  congregation.  It  is  called 
'  the  Chevrah.'  The  men  form  its  main  body,  but 
the  women  are  united  in  an  auxiliary  band,  and  even 
the  children  are  associated  with  these  for  charitable 
labors.  Every  case  of  destitution  is  relieved  at  once ; 
watchers  and  nurses  are  provided  by  day  and  night 
for  the  sick,  and  nobody  ever  shirks  the  sacred  duty 
of  attending  promptly  to-  the  burial  of  any  one  dying 
in  the  Ghetto.  As  a  last  reason  for  our  certainly 
great  immunity  from  the  plague,  is  the  assiduous 
care,  unremitting  watchfulness  and  almost  super- 
human devotion  of  our  skilled  and  highly  successful 
Jewish  doctors.  They  have  enjoyed,  from  time  im- 
memorial in  all  lands  and  climes,  a  peerless  reputa- 
tion. Kings  and  princes  have  summoned  them  to 
their  thrones ;  but  the  common  people,  from  imbibed 
hatred  and  prejudices  spread  by  their  priests,  would 
rather  die  than  call  any  o-ne  of  them  into  their  fam- 
ilies for  medical  relief.  Here  we  have  in  this  village, 
our  own  beloved  and  revered  doctor  Valavigny, 
who  resides  in  the  adjoining  village  ©f  Thonon.  He 
comes  here  daily  on  regular  inspection,  and  at  any 
time  when  necessary.  We  all  worship  the  good  old 
man,  whose  very  smile  seems  a  cure  to  the  afflicted 
and  ailing.  At  the  outbreak  of  the  epidemic  in  this 
neighborhood  he  freely  offered  his  services  to-  the 
community  at  large.  But  his  envious  Christian  col- 
leagues, in  coalition  with  the  vicars,  so  decried  his 
religion  and  his  mode  of  practice,  that  he  never  was 
called,  although  the  masses  die  unattended  by  the 
hundreds." 

On  further  inquiry  whether  she  had  heard  of  the 


254  BEN  BEOR. 

ominous,  dreadful  report  against  her  people,  that 
they  all  over  Europe  were  in  secret  coalition  to  ex- 
terminate the  Christians  by  poison,  and  that  such  was 
really  the  cause  and  origin  of  the  present  all-pre- 
vailing fatal  epidemic,  she  answered  that  her  people 
everywhere  had  indeed  learned  of  this  slanderous  and 
villainous  accusation,  and  that  they  lived  in  great  and 
tremulous  apprehension  of  impending  danger.  "  But 
we  trust/7  she  continued,  "  that  the  good  common- 
sense  of  the  better  portion  of  the  people  will  see  the 
utter  fallacy  and  entire  impossibility  of  any  truth  in 
such  a  monstrous  invention,  too  maliciously  gross 
for  the  venomous  fanaticism  of  even  the  most  igno- 
rant. Besides  all  of  this,  we  are  in  the  hands  of  our 
God ;  He  has  protected  and  saved  us  in  all  the  perils 
and  dangers  which  heretofore  have  befallen  His  chosen 
nation,  and  will  not  now,  we  fondly  trust,  abandon  us 
in  this  hour  of  our  great  trials." 

As  the  woman  ceased  speaking  she  actually  looked 
grandly  beautiful.  The  excitement  caused  by  her 
deep  feelings  suifused  her  creamy  cheeks  with  roseate 
tints ;  her  dark  eyes  overflowed  with  tears ;  and  as 
she  stood  there  erect,  with  hands  as  in  supplication 
folded  upon  her  finely  rounded  bosom,  methought 
an  instantaneous  resurrection  of  a  figure  which 
always  lives  in  my  imagination  had  taken  place 
before  my  very  eyes.  She  was  the  identical  counter- 
part of"  Merris,"  the  Egyptian  princess,  my  first  love. 

Under  such  a  spell  I  grasped  both  her  hands, 
which  by  this  time  had  fallen  with  unconscious  grace 
to  her  sides,  and  pressed  them  with  a  fervor  no  doubt 
entirely  unexpected  by  the  wondering  woman.  I 
stated  to  her  that  myself  and  friends  had  great  in- 
fluence with  the  international  commission  which 
was  to  investigate  the  current  charges  against  the 
Jews,  and  protested  in  glowing  terms  that  we  would 
do  all  in  our  power  to  protect  her  and  her  people. 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  255 

Her  tears  commenced  welling  forth  again  as  she 
thanked  me  in  artless  but  most  fervent  words  for 
these  assurances.  At  this  instant  her  son  returned 
and  I  made  a  motion  to  leave.  She  invited  me 
urgently  to  visit  her  house  again  and  as  often  as  my 
time  would  permit ;  adding  that  any  kindness  and 
protection  offered  and  extended  would  find  the  most 
grateful  appreciation.  Thus  we  bade  farewell  to 
each  other,  having  met  an  hour  ago  as  entire  stran- 
gers, and  now  parting  as  warm  friends. 

Section  IV. — Foiled  Again. 

At  least  ten  days  must  elapse  before  the  govern- 
ment commission  for  this  district  could  arrive  here 
for  the  investigation  of  the  heinous  charges  made 
against  the  Jews,  accused  of  wholesale  poisoning 
the  waters  of  the  continent.  This  interval,  as  may 
be  supposed,  I  spent  mostly  at  the  house  of  my  new 
acquaintance,  the  beautiful  widow,  Madame  Bel- 
lietu.  I  soon  observed  that  the  son  had  taken  a 
great  aversion  to  me,  and  absented  himself  on  one 
excuse  or  the  other  whenever  I  visited  them.  I 
heard  him  repeatedly  mumble  on  my  entrance, 
"  There  comes  that  hated  Goy  again."  Goy  is  a  de- 
risive appellation  for  all  who  do  not  belong  to  the 
Jewish  faith.  He  then  would  disappear  by  the  back 
door.  The  woman,  however,  looked  upon  me  with 
more  favor ;  accepted  a  few  trifling  presents,  selected 
with  great  delicacy  so  as  not  to  appear  improper,  and, 
she  even  soon  permitted  the  slight  familiarity  of  my 
kissing  her  hand  when  I  came  and  departed.  The 
flattered  vanity  of  her  sex  got  the  better  of  her  judg- 
ment. Encouraged  thereby,  I  ventured  after  a  few 
days  to  speak  of  love,  and  how  happy  I  should  deem 
myself  to  possess  such  a  woman  for  a  wife.  This, 
however,  appeared  to  bring  the  widow  to  her  senses. 


256  BEN  BEOR. 

In  language  that  could  not  be  mistaken,  she  respect- 
fully but  firmly  forbade  me  ever  to  broach  the  subject 
again.     "While   I,   as   a   widow/'    she   continued, 
"need  not  be  girlishly  squeamish  in  my  dealings 
with  men,  and  while  I  have,  perhaps  indiscreetly, 
accepted  your  attentions  as  coming  from  an  avowed 
kind   protector,  yet  the   thought  of  marriage   has 
never  entered  my  mind.     Were  I  ever  to  entertain 
another  matrimonial  alliance,  there  are  many  anxious 
suitors  among  my  own  people.     The  memory  of  my 
devoted  and  most  affectionate  husband  is  too  fresh 
yet  in  my  sorrowing  heart  to  think  of  anything  but 
my  grief  and  bereavement.     It  is  strange,"  she  said, 
now  with  a  sarcastic  smile,  "  that  you  Christian  gentle- 
men have  so  frequently  a  penchant  for  us  Semitic 
females.     In  your  ardent   passions  you  make  very 
interesting  wooers ;  but  when  once  married,  as  the 
few  exceptional  subjects  who  ventured  on  the  experi- 
ment have  generally  found  out  to  their  life-long  sor- 
row, you  prove  not  the  best  of  husbands ;  at  least  not 
such  as  we  are  accustomed  to  find  among  our  own 
domestic  circles.     It  is  not  the  difference  of  religion 
alone  which  hinders  a  felicitous  connubial  blending, 
although  this  too  is  a  great  factor  and  element  in  the 
discordant  relation  between  two  who  are  to  become 
one.     Love,  as  a  cement  that  must  bring  about  such 
a  union,  rests  fundamentally  upon  the  ethical  senti- 
ments, interwoven  with  our  being  from  early  youth. 
These  cannot  be  lightly  thrown  off,  changed,  or  put 
on  at  will.     But  equally  in  importance,  if  not  more 
so,  are  the  differences  and  habits,  tastes  and  sur- 
roundings of  everyday  life,  which  must  become  a  bar 
to  the  happiness  in  the  amalgamation  of  two  distinct 
races."     "  Oh,  you  are  mistaken,"  I  cried,  and  fell 
before  her  on  my  knees.     "  Let  me  prove  to  you  that 
true  love  can  overcome  all  these  obstacles.    Be  mine, 
mine  forever,  and  see  if  I  cannot  make  you  the  most 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  257 

contented,  supremely  blessed  spouse  who  ever  rested 
in  the  arms  of  a  slavishly  devoted  companion."  With 
this  I  sprang  to  my  feet,  clasping  her  violently  to 
my  breast,  and  showering  fiery  kisses  upon  her  lips 
and  forehead.  The  woman  at  first  was  dumbfounded, 
and  in  her  surprise  did  not  resist.  As  soon  as  she 
realized,  however,  the  insult  to  her  feminine  dignity 
and  modesty,  she  threw  me  off  with  the  strength  of 
an  enraged  tigress.  Even  my  supernatural  physical 
power  was  no  match  for  her  outraged  womanhood. 
With  an  imperious,  contemptuous  wave  of  her  hand 
she  pointed  to  the  door,  whence,  crestfallen,  I  pre- 
cipitately made  my  exit.  On  reaching  the  threshold, 
I,  however,  turned  once  more  towards  her.  With 
clenched  fists  and  fierce  malignity  of  voice  and  ges- 
tures, begotten  by  irate  lust  and  deepest  humiliation, 
I  hissed :  "  Accursed  Jew !  revenge  on  thee  and  thine ! 
most  exquisite  and  crushing  vengeance  on  the  male- 
dieted  seed  of  Abraham  for  this  insult  and  contumely 
to  me,  who  might  have  been  your  friend  and  pro- 
tector." After  this  I  hastily  left  her,  she  falling 
senseless  and  swooning  to  the  floor. 

The  loud  words  and  shrieks  of  our  stormy  alter- 
cation had  reached  the  terrified  people  of  the  Ghetto, 
and  I  saw  them  rushing  from  all  directions  to  the 
house  as  I  disappeared. 

Section  V.—  The  Torture. 

At  last  the  delegation  for  the  inquiry  into  the 
poisoning  conspiracy  was  fully  assembled.  By  an 
inexplicable  policy,  South  France  was  represented 
by  the  Cardinal  Bishop  of  Strasburg,  my  late  vic- 
timized master,  Monseignor  de  Berthold.  I  found 
him  at  his  temporal  quarters.  He  was  greatly  sur- 
prised to  see  me.  After  talking  over  in  the  most  hila- 
rious manner  our  recent  experiences,  I  broached 


258  BEN  BEOR. 

the  subject  now  on  hand,  not  intimating,  however, 
even  with  a  word,  my  adventure  with  the  Jewish 
widow.  We  agreed  that  during  the  session  of  the 
commission  I  should  remain  in  the  service  of  his 
Reverence,  but  appear  in  public  as  entire  strangers. 
We  shared  with  equal  ferocity  our  hatred  against 
the  children  of  Israel,  and  were  determined  that 
they,  in  one  way  or  another,  should  be  convicted 
of  the  wicked  accusation  and  suffer  as  they  never 
had  suffered  before. 

The  ravages  of  the  dreadful  malady  were  now  at 
their  height.  The  terror  of  the  people  knew  no 
bounds.  They  died  like  flocks  of  infected  sheep. 
The  crazed  sufferers  looked  somewhere  and  for 
somebody  on  whom  to  wreak  their  wrath  and  bitter 
vengeance.  It  was,  notwithstanding,  apparent  in  the 
first  day's  session  of  the  commission  that  the  opin- 
ions and  sentiments  concerning  our  investigation 
were  greatly  divided.  The  charge  on  its  face  was 
too  preposterous  to  be  readily  accepted  by  any  num- 
ber of  sane  and  reflecting  persons.  As  usual,  the 
Hebrews,  in  great  extremity  of  danger,  had  found 
among  the  hosts  of  their  revilers  some  warm  and 
staunch  defenders  and  friends.  Foremost  among 
these  was  the  venerable,  humane  Pope  Clement  VI, 
who,  even  with  his  dying  hand,  issued  a  celebrated 
"Bull"  addressed  to  all  Christianity,  proclaiming 
the  innocence  of  the  Jews  concerning  the  awful  poi- 
son accusation,  elucidating  infallible  reasons  for  the 
groundlessness  and  folly  of  the  shameless  and  mali- 
cious charge.  He  solemnly  admonished  every  priest 
to  shield  and  protect  the  defamed  people,  and  ex- 
communicated all  who  should  commit  violence 
against  them  (Sept.  14,  1348  A.  D.).  Then,  like  a 
beacon-light  among  the  German  people  who  glutted 
themselves  with  ravenous  instincts  on  every  occa- 
sion of  an  outbreak  against  the  hated  Semites, 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  259 

appeared  a  few  en  lightened  and  humane  communities, 
who,  at  their  own  great  risk,  actively  and  energeti- 
cally fought  the  bloody  vandalism  of  the  times.  The 
Burgomaster  and  the  Schoepfen  of  Cologna,  those  of 
the  Swiss  cities  of  Basel  and  Freiburg,  but  most  espec- 
ially the  commune  of  Strasburg,  were  the  noted 
leaders  in  opposition  to  the  common  fanatical  frenzy. 
Even  the  people  of  Villeneuve  were  liberally  and 
kindly  inclined  towards  their  Jewish  neighbors,  and 
made  every  exertion  for  their  protection. 

If  anything  decisive  was  to  be  accomplished,  radi- 
cal measures  must  be  instituted.  The  first  step  to 
be  taken  was  to  adjourn  the  council  instantly  to  the 
neighboring  town  of  Benfelden,  where  the  whole 
population,  intensely  ignorant,  lived  under  the  abso- 
lute rule  of  a  bigoted  priest.  I  pressed  this  matter 
so  strongly  upon  the  mind  of  my  patron  and  friend 
that  he  carried  it  readily  with  his  confreres,  and 
thither  we  went  on  the  second  day. 

The  next  important  problem  to  be  solved  was  to 
adduce,  if  possible,  some  semblance  of  proof  concern- 
ing the  truth  of  the  imputed  crime.  For  this  pur- 
pose I  had  planned  the  most  cunning  and  cruelly 
vengeful  proceedings  in  this  tragedy.  My  raging 
spite  against  the  detested  widow  Bellieta,  her  son 
Aquet,  and  their  boasted  Doctor  Valavigny,  fur- 
ni.shed  the  means  for  the  early  accomplishment  of 
this  my  iniquitous  scheme.  We  had  these  three 
persons  arrested  and  brought  before  the  sacred  tri- 
bunal of  the  "Fehin,"  which  formed  an  adjunct  of 
the  council.  There  was  not  much  trouble  to  have  my- 
self appointed  chief  executioner.  Thus  it  became  my 
official  duty  to  torture  our  three  prisoners  into  a 
confession  of  being  participants  in  the  felony  charged 
against  their  race.  Too  well  I  knew  the  cowardly 
wcak-heartedness  of  these  people  when  subjected  to 
physical  pain.  So,  clad  in  the  crimson  robe  of  my 


260  BEN  BEOR. 

cruel  office,  and  with  face  masked,  joined  by  a  number 
of  coarse,  brutal-looking  bailiffs,  I  had  the  prisoners 
brought  into  the  subterranean  chamber  of  Inquiry 
situated  under  the  church.  Monseignor  de  Berthold 
presided ;  two  others  of  the  delegates  acted  as  scribes ; 
several  commissioners,  actuated  by  the  same  vindic- 
tive motives,  attended  as  interrogators  and  witnesses. 
The  village  cure  officiated  as  monitor.  With  his  bland 
and  unctuous  voice  he  called  upon  them,  for  the 
honor  of  God,  to  ease  their  consciences  and  confess 
what  knowledge  they  had  of,  and  how  much  they 
themselves  participated  in,  the  foul  conspiracy  against 
the  members  of  the  Church.  "  If  you  refuse,  we  have 
means,  as  you  will  find  to  your  sorrow,  to  press  the 
truth  out  of  you.  But  we  rather  wish  that  you, 
offspring  of  Belial,  should  see  the  monstrous  wicked- 
ness of  your  ways  and  make  of  your  own  accord  a 
full  confession  of  your  crime.  Own  Christ,  our 
Saviour,  by  being  baptized  in  the  holy  faith  and 
save  your  miserable  lives."  The  prisoners  looked 
haggard  and  dejected.  After  a  short  and  painful 
pause  the  Doctor  advanced,  and  bowing  to  the 
President,  spoke  out  loudly  and  firmly :  "  What  I 
say  is  for  us  all.  We  have  committed  no  crime  and 
know  nothing  of  any  conspiracy  by  our  people.  We 
are  in  the  hands  of  God,  whom  we  worship  as  '  the 
One/  and  whom  we  will  not  deny  nor  forsake.  You 
may  do  with  us  as  you  dare.  Beware  that  you  do 
not  arouse  still  more  the  anger  of  the  Almighty!  " 

At  a  signal  from  the  Cardinal  I  now  took  charge 
of  the  prisoners.  I  handed  over  the  two  men  to  my 
attendants.  They  led  them  to  the  outer  left  corner 
where  stood  the  rack.  I  took  hold  of  the  woman, 
pushing  her  onward  to  the  right  corner,  where,  sus- 
pended from  the  ceiling,  hung  the  thumb-screws. 
On  the  word  of  command  from  me,  our  horrible 
work  commenced.  Before  I  placed  the  irons  upon 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  261 

her  hands,  and  while  the  terrible  cries  of  her  suffer- 
ing companions  re-echoed  through  the  vaulted  space, 
I  whispered  to  her :  "  Marry  that  stranger  whom  you 
have  so  despisingly  insulted  and  you  shall  be 
saved."  But  she  answered  tremblingly,  yet  without 
hesitation,  "  Never,  no  never  !  "  and  gave  me  such  a 
withering  look  of  contempt  and  detestation  that  I 
felt  in  my  innermost  soul  she  had  recognized  and 
identified  her  persecutor.  My  rage  knew  no  bounds. 
I  had  been  instructed  by  the  members  of  the  tribunal 
not  to  exercise  too  much  force  in  the  attempt  to 
extract  confession  from  the  woman,  but  as  I  turned 
the  excruciating  screws  upon  the  tender  flesh  of  her 
thumbs,  I  gave  them  such  a  tremendous  ugly  wrench 
that  I  heard  the  joints  of  her  bones  crack,  and  she 
issued  a  piercing  scream  which  will  ring  in  my  ears 
all  the  rest  of  my  life.  She  fainted  away.  I  had  a 
sponge  drenched  with  vinegar  and  cold  water  ready 
to  revive  her.  As  she  opened  her  eyes,  one  of  the 
secretaries,  who  had  followed  in  my  wake  by  power 
of  his  office,  asked  her  the  usual  question,  "  Will 
you  now  confess?"  She  looked  at  me  terrified 
and  pitifully  wild,  then  cried  out,  "For  God's  sake, 
anything — everything — only  take  me  away  from  this 
man !  "  She  was  now  led  back  to  the  interrogator. 
The  others  stood  there  already,  pale,  trembling  and 
bleeding.  They  had  succumbed  after  the  first  few 
severe  punishments  at  the  hands  of  my  powerful 
helpers.  They  owned  up  to  everything.  The  cun- 
ning inquiries  were  so  artfully  put  that  they  made  a 
cohesive  and  complete  story.  In  the  form  of  a  con- 
fession it  stated  exact  responses  to  the  leading  ques- 
tions, asked  and  repeated  by  the  trembling  and 
apprehensive  prisoners.  Thus  they  were  made  to 
say  in  substance  the  following  facts  : 

'  Yes,  there  was  a  European  conspiracy  among 
the  Jews  to  poison  the  Christians  by  the  drinking 
water." 


202  BEN  BEOR. 

"  Yes,  it  was  conceived  and  sent  abroad  by  Jacob 
a  'Paskate/  the  rich  banker  of  the  great  and  ancient 
city  of  Toledo  in  Spain." 

"  Yes,  they  had  received  some  of  the  poison  them- 
selves and  used  it  all." 

"Yes,  it  came  in  little  leathern  bags,  and  was 
sometimes  of  red,  black  or  green  color." 

"Yes,  it  was  prepared  from  the  flesh  and  vitals 
of  deadly  reptiles  and  insects." 

"Yes,  this  was  mixed  with  Christian  blood." 

"Yes,  they  knew  that  this  day  was  the  Jewish 
great  fast-day  of  Atonement,  and  would  make  oath 
and  subscribe  as  to  the  truth  of  their  solemn  con- 
fession." 

Persuaded  by  such  effective  means  as  were  used 
by  the  Holy  Church,  the  rack  and  thumb-screws, 
which  were  applied  ad  libitum  until  the  hard-hearted 
sinners  should  give  over  their  stubbornness,  there 
was  nothing  in  the  catalogue  of  crimes  which  men 
and  women  would  not  own  to,  and  the  religion  of 
the  meek  and  lowly  Jesus  practised  thus  by  her 
stewards  was  satisfied  and  convinced  by  such  cun- 
ningly extracted  evidence. 

And  so  they  did  make  oath,  and  subscribed  with 
their  trembling,  wounded  hands  to  the  statement  on 
the  parchment  roll,  and  then  were  returned  by  aid  of 
their  tormentors  to  prison.  The  convicting  docu- 
ment Was  immediately  laid  before  the  assembled 
delegates.  As  if  to  substantiate  all  the  more  the 
horrible  plot,  there  arrived  a  messenger  from  the 
city  of  Zahringen.  He  brought  with  him  a  curiously 
fashioned  wallet,  containing,  as  was  certified  by  the 
authorities,  the  identical  poison  used  by  the  Jews 
and  taken  from  some  of  them  while  in  the  act  of 
throwing  it  into  the  river.  A  little  of  it  was  given 
to  one  of  the  dogs  in  the  hall,  and  the  beast  imme- 
diately died,  under  painful  convulsions  and  with 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  263 

foaming  at  the  mouth.  I  examined  the  stuff  closely, 
and  found  it  to  be  a  clear,  metallic  arsenic  powder 
colored  with  a  tinge  of  blood.  Stupendous  ignorance 
and  arrogance,  handmaidens  of  selfishness,  fanati- 
cism and  bigotry — hail !  ye  powers  of  darkness  and 
mighty  allies  of  the  Anti-Messiah,  who  now  hath 
stirred  up  the  benighted  inhabitants  of  this  continent 
like  a  swarm  of  angry  demons  to  rage  on  earth  with 
blinded  fury,  under  flimsiest  pretense  and  by  the 
merest  sham.  A  child  would  detect  this  falsehood 
against  the  chosen  of  the  Lord,  which  should  bring 
upon  them  fire  and  sword,  even  unto  despair  and 
annihilation.  Under  no  other  conditions  had  it 
been  possible  to  raise  the  ready  multitudes,  even  in 
the  midst  of  the  ravages  of  the  pestilence,  against 
inoffensive,  resistless,  doomed  Israel.  Would  it 
otherwise  not  be  seen  at  a  glance  that  all  the  exist- 
ing poisons  now  available  could  not  affect  a  single 
stream  for  a  day  to  exercise  any  pernicious  effect, 
much  less  all  the  waters  in  seas,  rivers,  wells,  foun- 
tains and  cisterns  ?  But  the  thirst  for  blood  and 
persecution  had  been  incited  to  fever-heat.  Before 
the  day  was  over  the  edict  of  guilty  had  been  passed 
by  the  wise  counselors,  and  death  was  let  loose  upon 
the  devoted  heads  of  the  hapless  victims.  True,  a 
few  Christian  hearts  resisted  staunchly  to  the  last,  but 
their  pleading  voices  were  cried  down  and  became 
lost  in  the  demoniac  uproar.  Sentence  of  death  was 
passed  instantly  upon  the  tortured  victims.  They 
were  doomed  to  die  by  fire.  In  less  time  than  one 
can  tell  it,  the  faggots  were  gathered,  the  despairing 
prisoners  dragged  to  the  scene  amidst  the  appalling 
shouts  and  derisive  cries  of  the  drunken  multitude; 
they  were  bound  and  placed  upon  the  pyres,  and  the 
flames,  amidst  dark,  heavy  clouds  of  smoke,  rose  to 
heaven,  devouring  the  sacrifices,  whose  death-songs 
were  heard  over  all  the  insane  tumult  of  their 


264  BEN  BEOR. 

butchers.  Meanwhile,  the  proclamation  which  out- 
lawed and  proscribed  all  Hebrews  wheresoever 
living  and  found,  was  officially  passed  and  promul- 
gated, and  it  was  then  and  there  ordered  that  this 
decree  of  extermination  should  forthwith  be  pub- 
lished for  execution  throughout  all  the  realms  of  the 
Christian  world.  With  a  swiftness  unparalleled  in 
the  annals  of  news  of  those  times,  the  fearful  mes- 
sage rolled  along  to  every  hamlet,  town  and  city. 
It  transformed  Europe  into  a  veritable  hell,  devour- 
ing the  lives  of  non-combatants,  men,  women  and 
children.  Like  hungry  wolves,  sanguinary  rabbles 
would  first  kill  their  uncounted  victims,  and  then 
with  insatiable  greed  possess  themselves  of  the  spoils 
of  the  killed.  History  will  forever  preserve  the 
story  of  this  cataclysm  of  murder,  committed  amidst 
one  continual  jubilee-cry  of  "Kill  the  Jews  for  the 
Love  of  Jesus !  " 

Section  VI. — TJie  Flagellants  in  Strasburg. 

First  and  foremost  in  the  bath  of  blood  were 
immersed  with  pitiful  relentiesSness  a  large  number 
of  cities,  their  suburbs  and  adjoining  villages,  of 
southern  and  middle  Germany.  Like  an  avalanche, 
increasing  in  impetuosity  and  swiftness  as  it  rolls 
along  on  a  path  of  unbridled  destruction,  so  the 
mania  for  extermination  against  the  doomed  Hebrews 
spread  the  longer  it  was  enacted.  It  overwhelmed 
Switzerland,  France  and  England ;  in  fact  the  whole 
continent  became  a  scene  of  brutal,  barbarous, 
indiscriminate  slaughter.  Nor  must  it  be  supposed 
that  the  victims  everywhere  allowed  themselves  to 
be  massacred  -without  resistance.  Made  heroic  by 
despair,  in  many  places  they  armed  themselves,  and 
although  outnumbered,  they  fought  to  death  in  sev- 
eral instances,  inflicting  great  damage  on  their  foes. 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  2G5 

In  the  old  fortress  of  Mentz  they  barricaded  their 
quarters,  and  three  hundred  of  the  most  resolute 
men  resisted  bravely  the  storming  mob.  In  the 
fight  which  ensued  they  slew  over  two  hundred  of 
their  assailants.  When  they  saw  themselves  van- 
quished and  overpowered,  they  quickly  killed 
their  own  women  and  children  and  set  their  houses 
on  fire.  Half  the  city  was  laid  in  ashes  by  the 
unchecked  conflagration.  Similarly  acted  the  oldest 
congregation  in  Germany,  the  Jews  of  Worms. 
As  soon  as  the  dread  hour  of  their  extremity  had 
arrived,  twelve  of  their  leading  officers  repaired  to  the 
city  hall,  and  on  their  knees  implored  the  assembled 
magistrates  for  protection  and  pity.  This  was  sneer- 
ingly  and  unconditionally  refused.  They  then  drew 
the  swords  hidden  under  their  cloaks  and  massacred 
every  one  of  their  tormentors.  Next  they  fought 
their  way  back  to  the  Ghetto  and  fired  the  antique 
synagogue.  Instantly  the  flames  spread,  consumed 
the  entire  quarter  and  ate  their  way  into  the  city, 
most  of  which  was  destroyed.  In  the  town  of  Con- 
stance, on  the  beautiful  lake  of  the  same  name,  the 
hapless  victims  were  carried  by  main  force  to  the 
churches,  and  there,  whether  they  would  or  no,  bap- 
tized by  the  ever-willing,  subservient  clergy.  One 
of  these  new  Christians,  bolder  than  the  rest  of  his 
brethren,  on  reaching  his  home  cried  out  of  his 
open  window  to  the  gathered  multitude,  as  he  threw 
the  quickly-catching  fire  into  his  house,  "  Behold,  I 
die  as  a  Jew  in  defiance  of  you  all ! " 

Notwithstanding  the  reports  of  similar  occurrences 
which  came  from  everywhere,  yet  the  city  of  Cologna, 
the  noble  community  of  llegensburg,  and  stout, 
stalwart  Strasburg  held  out  to  the  last  to  keep 
this  insatiate  butchery  from  their  doors.  I  had 
foreseen  such  stubborn  resistance,  but  was  deter- 
mined, if  possible,  to  overcome  it.  I  therefore  now 


2GG  BEN  BEOR. 

counselled  Monseignor  de  Berthold  that  he  should, 
immediately  on  his  return  to  the  cathedral,  spread  the 
report  among  the  inhabitants,  especially  among  the 
lower  classes,  that  the  magistrates  had  been  bribed 
with  immense  sums  by  their  proteges.  To  this  v. 
be  added  the  not  altogether  unfounded  story  tbat  the 
son  of  the  millionaire  Lionel  was  secretly  en  Craned 
to  be  married  to  the  beautiful  daughter  of  de  Wintf  r- 
thur,  and  that  she  was  already  under  instruction  by 
the  Rabbi,  previous  to  her  joining  the  religion  of 
her  betrothed.  The  lecherous  prelate,  in  spite  of 
his  experience,  was  still  madly  in  love  with  the 
girl,  and  swore  a  fearful  oath  that  the  accursed  Jew 
should  never  have  her.  I  assured  him  that  if  lie 
would  faithfully  and  successfully  carry  out  my 
measures  I  would  be  on  hand  with  -sufficient  force 
to  prevent  the  marriage,  and  teach  le  Maire  a  1 
which  would  hurl  all  his  pet  schemes  to  the 
ground.  The  lustful  priest  had  set  himself  assidu- 
ously to  work  without  any  loss  of  time  to  have  my 
tales  of  suspicion  spread  broadcast  over  the  city,  and 
they  worked  like  a  leaven,  fermenting  the  already 
discontented  citizens  to  the  verge  of  rebellion.  Too 
many  of  them  ached  now  to  get  rid  of  their  Jewish 
creditors,  to  whom  they  were  largely  indebted,  and 
to  lay  hands  on  their  plethoric  coffers.  Through 
the  prostrating  influence  of  the  pestilence  all  business 
had  become  stagnant,  and  many  families  in  their 
bereavement  and  sorrows  suffered  actually  for  the 
necessaries  of  life.  True,  charity  tried  her  utmost 
to  ameliorate  these  sad  conditions,  and  the  Hebrews 
were  foremost  to  fill  her  hands  with  plenty;  but 
when  a  whole  community,  previously  comfortable 
and  in  ease,  is  thrown  by  means  of  circumstances 
beyond  control  into  pauperfsm,  the  most  munificent 
aid  by  the  benevolent  must  fall  far  too  short  to 
assuage  the  wholesale  suffering.  So  the  city  fumed 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  267 

and  panted  like  the  crater  of  a  volcano  preceding  an 
eruption. 

I  have  stated  that  I  would  come  with  sufficient 
force  in  the  city  when  the  preliminary  intrigues  were 
fully  at  work.  To  understand  this  promise,  it  must 
now  be  known  that  a  new  factor  for  the  time's  dread- 
ful calamity  had  entered  the  field,  which  added,  if 
this  was  possible,  anarchy  to  the  already  prevailing 
terror.  When  the  frenzy  caused  by  the  Black 
Death  had  reached  its  highest  point,  a  fanatic  by  the 
name  of  Conrad  Schmidt  made  his  appearance  with 
a  band  of  violent  lunatics,  in  this  craxtd  neigh- 
borhood. He  pretended  to  have  received  a  letter 
direct  from  "  Jesus,  the  Redeemer,"  containing  the 
message  of  the  early  second  coming  of  Christ  on 
earth,  but  that  the  world  must  be  purified  previously 
by  the  baptism  of  blood.  He  and  his  followers, 
naked  to  the  loins,  girded  with  ropes,  carrying  in 
their  hands  heavy  leathern  scourges,  marched  in  pro- 
cession through  the  streets,  from  city  to  city,  singing 
lugubrious  chants,  whipping  their  bodies  till  the 
blood  rippled  in  streams  by  the  lashes ;  committing, 
under  pretense  of  making  the  people  repent,  all 
imaginable  excesses,  perpetrating  murder,  arson  and 
rapine  wherever  they  went.  From  the  peculiar 
weapon  of  torture  which  they  carried  they  called 
themselves  "the  Flagellants." 

As  soon  as  I  learned  from  my  spies  that  every- 
thing was  in  readiness  at  the  doomed  cathcdral- 
metropolis,  I  placed  myself  at  the  head  of  that  rav- 
enous crew,  and  on  the  14th  day  of  February,  l.'UJ), 
we  entered,  with  hideous  noises,  in  broad  daylight, 
the  wide  streets  of  the  city.  Our  coming  had  been 
heralded  the  day  previous.  Frightful  as  was  our 
actual  appearance,  insanely  wild  as  were  our  demon- 
strations, yet  the  rumor  spread  industriously  by  our 
secret  allies,  the  Cardinal  and  his  little  army  of  cas- 


268  BEN  BEOR. 

socked  priests,  had  largely  exaggerated  our  numbers, 
strength  and  doings.  Relying  upon  these,  the  dis- 
contented, angry  scum  of  the  town  had  already  on 
yesterday  successfully  rioted,  and,  joined  even  by  the 
better  classes  of  citizens,  partly  from  fear  and  partly 
from  selfish  desire  for  their  own  aggrandizement, 
accomplished  the  deposal  of  "  le  Mairie  "  and  "  la 
Commune,"  and  selected  their  own  friends  and  tools 
to  fill  the  vacated  offices. 

On  our  entrance  we  were  joined  by  vast  multi- 
tudes of  the  most  varied  description.  They  came, 
some  from  curiosity,  some  from  sympathy  for  our 
work.  Brutality  ever  runs  a  mile  while  refinement 
advances  a  step.  Like  a  pack  of  screeching  hyenas, 
we  moved  on,  shouting  at  the  top  of  our  voices  some 
vulgar  refrains. 

The  tune,  a  familiar  song,  was  caught  up  at 
once  by  the  ever-swelling  crowd. .  Some  became  so 
excited  that  they  divested  themselves  in  our  pres- 
ence of  their  clothes  and  begged  to  be  flagellated.  In 
this  manner  our  ravenous  host  of  panting  lunatics  at 
last  reached  "  La  Mairie/'  shouting  hoarsely  for  the 
new  magistrates.  They  soon  appeared  on  the  bal- 
cony. "Give  us  the  Jews!  Give  us  the  Jews!" 
roared  the  seething  mass  of  demented  humanity. 

"  Take  the  crucifiers  of  our  Lord  !  Arrest  them  ! " 
shouted  back  the  now  too-willing  officials,  who 
in  previous  conclave  had  readily  and  eagerly  agreed 
upon  the  dastardly  policy  of  surrendering  the  unpro- 
tected Hebrews. 

By  one  common  impulse,  under  leadership  of  the 
fierce  Conrad  Schmidt,  the  entire  body  of  the  Flagel- 
lants moved  towards  the  Ghetto,  and  within  a  few 
hours  took  its  entire  population,  numbering  over 
two  thousand,  captive,  driving  them  like  a  herd  of 
sheep  to  the  open,  public  square.  A  kind  of  a 
mock  court  was  held  over  them,  at  which  the  city's 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  269 

pusillanimous  magistrates  presided.  The  Jews  were 
pronounced  guilty  without  delay  or  ceremony,  and 
doomed  forthwith  to  die.  Ropes  were  brought, 
and  the  hands  of  the  sentenced  men,  women  and 
children  were  bound  to  their  backs.  Amidst  the  un- 
merciful blows  from  the  knotted  leathern  thongs,  the 
heartrending  shrieks  of  the  tormented  unfortunates, 
the  howling  and  bawling  of  the  naked,  bloodthirsty 
mob,  the  wretched  Israelites  were  marched  to  their 
own  burial-ground.  Here  a  pile  of  faggots  was  soon 
erected,  during  which  time  the  brutal  whipping 
of  the  Hebrews,  now  half  dead,  continued.  When  all 
was  in  readiness  they  were  forced  to  ascend  the  rude 
heap.  Fire  was  set  to  the  pyres.  The  flames,  as 
ravenous  as  the  murderous  hordes,  ate  quickly  the 
quivering  victims,  enveloping  them  in  black  clouds 
of  smoke,  from  which  they  were  at  last  mercifully 
released  by  most  horrible  death.  So  ended  the 
cruel  martyrdom. 

While  this  carnival  of  carnage  transpired  I  hur- 
ried to  the  cathedral  with  breathless  haste  in  search 
of  the  Cardinal-Bishop.  I  found  him  soon  in  the 
church.  Well  informed  of  all  that  was  going  on, 
he  had  impatiently  awaited  my  coming.  "Let  us 
hasten,  if  we  wish  to  take  our  persecutors  alive,  so 
away  to  the  house  of  Winterthur !"  We  started  on 
a  run  and  arrived  there  without  delay.  The  doors 
of  the  mansion  stood  widely  open.  On  entering,  we 
found  no  one  there  but  an  old  crone.  She  informed 
us  that  the  family,  in  company  with  their  friends, 
Gosse  Sturm,  Peter  Schwarber  and  the  banker 
Lionel,  inclusive  of  their  families,  had  left  in  the 
middle  of  last  night  for  parts  unknown. 

His  Reverence  was  so  exasperated  at  our  unex- 
pected discomfiture  that  he  turned  livid  with  rage. 
He  had  revelled  in  the  thoughts  of  despoiling  his 
enemies  of  their  treasures — perhaps  their  lives — pos- 


270  BEN  BEOR. 

sessing  himself  of  the  long-coveted  charms  and  virtue 
of  sweetest  maidenhood,  which  had  ever  inflamed 
his  carnal  passions.  Now  the  birds  had  flown. 
Suddenly  I  saw  him  stagger;  before  I  could  prevent 
it,  he  fell  to  the  floor.  Big  drops  of  perspiration 
oozed  forth  from  his  clammy  forehead ;  his  eyes  be- 
came glassy,  suifused  with  blood  and  rolled  wildly 
in  their  sockets;  his  arms  and  limbs  moved  convul- 
sively in  terrific  spasms ;  foam  stood  at  his  mouth, 
and  his  breath  came  heavy  and  stertorous ;  he  tried 
to  speak,  but  the  words  would  not  come ;  from  the 
now  quivering  lips  his  tongue  protruded;  it  had 
turned  glossy  black;  as  his  cramped  fingers  clawed 
the  ground  he  essayed  by  one  heaving  effort  to 
cry,  with  a  piercing  shriek  in  broken  accents, 
"  God  have  mercy  on  my  soul !  "  Then  he  fell  back 
— dead.  Monseigneur  Berthold  had  fallen  a  victim 
to  the  pestilence. 

The  Flagellants,  largely  augmented  by  new 
recruits,  soon  left  the  city.  I  followed  them  instantly 
and  directed  their  way  to  Regensburg  and  Cologna. 
The  whole  course  of  their  journey  thither  was  a 
succession  of  debauchery,  murder,  arson,  and  every 
conceivable  crime.  Drunken  with  success,  nothing 
could  withstand  their  demoniacal  assaults.  In  their 
train  followed  weeping  and  lamentation.  On  reach- 
ing the  cities  of  their  destination  they  repeated  with 
increased  fury  the  ghastly  work  of  Strasburg.  Not 
a  descendant  of  Abraham  was  left  to  tell  the  story. 
Their  extermination  in  all  these  lands  was  accom- 
plished. I  could  safely  retire,  for  the  present  at  least, 
from  the  theatre  of  my  never-ceasing  vengeance  on 
the  boasting  bearers  of  the  Torah. 

These  appalling  episodes  would,  however,  not  be 
complete  without  placing  on  record  the  final  fate 
which  overtook  the  terrible  Flagellants. 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  271 

Section  VII. — Retribution. 

As  long  as  the  novelty  of  the  exciting  sensation 
lasted,  the  course  of  the  scourgers  was  like  a  mad, 
triumphal  march  wherever  their  fancy  led.  The 
stimulant  of  their  frenzy,  raised  to  the  highest  pitch 
of  nervous  tension  by  the  ever-present  intoxicating 
drink,  held  even  the  pestilence  at  bay.  For  the  few 
stricken  ones  who  fell  by  the  wayside  and  were 
hastily  buried,  thousands  of  the  ignorant,  debased 
and  cowed  peasants  and  burghers  joined  their  ranks. 
They  had  everything  their  own  way  for  nearly  one 
whole  year.  But  after  the  beastly  destruction  with 
which  they  punished  resistless  Cologna,  the  Avenging 
Angel,  striding  ever  surely  in  the  wake  of  human 
wickedness,  with  counterbalancing  justice  reached 
them  at  last  and  ended  their  baneful  career.  They 
now  boldly  marched  toward  the  yet  peaceful  Nurn- 
berg.  Now  and  henceforth  the  mortality  in  their 
ranks  became  absolutely  stunning.  The  carcasses  of 
the  miserable  wretches,  as  they  died  by  the  wayside, 
soon  had  to  be  left  unburied  and  lay  strewn  in  their 
pathway,  festering  and  horribly  swollen  in  the  sun. 
The  authorities  everywhere  had  to  follow  them  with 
spades  and  pickaxes  to  become  grave-diggers,  and 
now  bitterly  complained  to  the  reigning  Emperor, 
Charles  IV.  Another  great  calamity,  ascribed  to 
their  marauding  terror,  came  soon  in  the  shape  of  a 
threatened  famine.  The  fields  and  farms  in  many 
places  had  been  abandoned  and  remained  untilled 
and  implanted  by  their  owners,  who  were  far  away 
with  the  crazed,  naked  whippers.  Food  became 
very  expensive  and  scarce;  the  old  supply  was 
wasteful  ly  consumed  or  destroyed.  The  better  classes 
of  citizens  and  the  powerful  nobility  grew  dis- 
gusted with  the  bloody  havoc.  The  climax  of  the 
catastrophe  had  been  reached  and  the  reaction  set  in. 


272  BEN  BEOR. 

Once  begun,  it  manifested  itself  rapidly  and  strongly. 
Latent  energy,  when  once  aroused  and  kindled, 
strides  with  giant's  feet  to  its  ultimate  goal. 

The  first  sign  of  opposition  came  in  the  form  of 
an  edict  sent  directly  from  the  Emperor  at  Vienna 
to  the  burgomaster,  Berthold  Engelspecht,  of  Nurn- 
berg.  It  commanded  that  the  gates  of  the  ancient 
city  should  be  closed  to  the  rebels  of  the  scourge. 
The  powerful  garrison,  already  provided  with  the 
powder-guns,  were  commissioned  to  help  the  authori- 
ties to  disperse  or  annihilate  the  murderous  mob. 

When,  therefore,  Conrad  Schmidt  with  his  hordes 
arrived  and  demanded  the  opening  of  the  locked 
portals,  a  herald  from  the  tower  bade  them  depart, 
as  they  should  not  enter  the  city  on  any  condition. 
Furious,  the  foremost  of  the  crowd,  with  their  lead- 
ers, threw  themselves  against  the  doors,  using  axes 
and  hammers  to  force  an  entrance.  They  were 
warned  once  more,  but  would  not  desist.  Then  the 
soldiers,  who  stood  ready  on  the  ramparts,  sent  such 
a  fusillade  of  leaden  balls  into  their  midst  that  the 
mob  fell  back.  A  second  and  a  third  followed,  every 
shot  being  a  messenger  of  death  in  the  dense  mass. 
They  staggered,  howling  and  cursing,  not  even 
knowing,  as  yet,  the  power  of  certain  destruction 
used  against  them.  Again  and  again  they  pressed 
forward,  the  living  trampling  over  the  dead.  It 
was  impossible  for  those  in  the  front  ranks  to  retreat, 
as  those  in  the  rear,  barely  knowing  what  was  going 
on,  held  them  wedged  in  by  a  tremendous  pressure. 
This  lasted  until  the  panic  became  general,  when  the 
terrified  wretches  fled  for  their  lives.  More  than  a 
thousand  corpses  were  buried  next  day  in  the 
trenches.  This,  their  first  decisive  defeat,  acted  as 
a  stunning  blow  to  their  courage.  Other  places, 
soon  learning  of  the  deliverance  of  Niirnberg,  closed 
their  doors  also  when  menaced,  and  succeeded  in 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  273 

keeping  the  wild  assailants  out.  Within  a  month 
their  ranks  became  decimated  to  a  surprising  extent. 
Death  by  pestilence,  exposure  and  deprivation  was 
aided  by  their  sudden  dispersion  through  the  desertion 
of  the  discouraged,  disgusted  and  famishing  follow- 
ers. Untold  numbers  died  exhausted  in  the  high- 
ways, trying  to  return  to  their  far-away  homes. 
Very  few  of  these  reached  there.  Most  of  the  pitiful, 
deluded  wanderers  perished  in  the  fields  and  ditches, 
victims  to  the  black-death.  Conrad  Smith,  with  a 
handful  of  his  disciples,  stole  the  boats  of  the  fisher- 
men on  the  Rhine  and  sailed  with  them  to  the  river's 
mouth.  Here  they  took  passage  for  England.  On 
their  arrival,  however,  the  British  people  would 
have  nothing  to  do  with  a  band  of  crazy  murderers, 
whose  terrible  reputation  had  long  preceded  them. 
The  authorities  arrested  all,  threw  them  into  prison, 
there  to  be  held  in  close  confinement.  They 
were  to  be  tried  as  foreign  vagabonds  and  fugitives 
from  justice,  dangerous  to  the  state;  but  before 
the  session  of  the  next  assizes  arrived,  not  one  of 
them  was  left  alive  to  worry  the  courts.  Pestilence 
relieved  the  magistrates  of  any  trouble  and  killed 
them  all. 


PHANTASMAGORIA  XVII. 

TOMASO  TORQUEMADA. 

Section  I. — A  Retrospect. 

Nearly  a  century  and  a  half  has  passed  since  I 
(Ben  Beor)  have  taken  a  demonstrative  part  in 
human  affairs.  Not  that  I  have  been  inactive  or 
indifferent  to  events  which  have  transpired,  but  no 
radically  violent  interference  seemed  necessary  for 
my  cause. 


274  BEN  BEOK. 

The  "  Black  Death  "  had  killed  on  the  continent 
twenty-five  millions  of  human  beings.  In  its  wake 
followed  all  the  concomitant  evils  and  horrors 
which  such  an  unprecedented  calamity  evoked. 
It  seemed  as  if  chaos  were  to  come  again.  Finally, 
the  epidemic  ceased  as  quickly  and  suddenly  as  it 
had  come,  traveling  southward  with  increased  vio- 
lence. At  a  short  interval  the  recuperative  power 
of  the  Caucasian  and  Semitic  races  manifested  itself 
with  most  amazing  virility  in  all  the  lands  which 
had  been  so  lately  smitten.  Mankind  breathed  free 
once  more.  Labor  asserted  her  strength  in  its  re- 
vival. Over  uncounted  hillocks  of  the  graves  of  the 
unknown  the  green  sward  covered  its  mantle  of 
beauty  and  the  sad  memories  which  lay  entombed 
beneath.  The  golden  grain  as  it  was  garnered 
brought  in  the  harvest  seasons  gloriously.  Every 
avenue  of  industry,  every  channel  of  trade,  com- 
merce, science  and  art — all  gradually  and  vigorously 
revived  and  grew.  Law  and  order,  such  as  the 
strong  hand  of  feudal  governments  was  wont  to  ex- 
ercise, were  established  again.  But  former  tyran- 
nical sway  now  recognized  rights  and  privileges 
which  were  never  before  granted  to  the  nations. 
Might,  the  arm  of  the  wicked  strong,  was  no  longer 
always  right.  The  Church,  too,  after  once  again 
opening  her  doors  to  fullest  swing,  became  less 
fanatic  and  crushing.  It  seemed  that  all  the  rela- 
tions which  men  held  to  men  had  been  mellowed  by 
the  softening  and  subduing  influences  of  a  common, 
great  calamity.  As  in  a  raging  hurricane  when  the 
lurid  flashes  of  lightning  have  ended  and  the  thunder 
rolled  away,  when  the  dark  clouds  have  passed  and  the 
winds  at  last  are  lulled,  the  clear,  moist  air  in  the 
reappearing  sunshine  makes  the  landscape  glisten  and 
glow  like  a  radiant  virgin  rising  from  her  morning 
bath,  so  the  world  was  transformed  soon  after  its 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  275 

appalling  suffering  at  the  hand  of  the  ravaging  con- 
tagion. 

Woe  is  me — woe  is  me !  after  all  the  havoc, 
which  seemed  to  realize  my  highest  aims,  as  soon 
as  the  spell  of  its  seemingly  fatal  depression  fades 
away  from  the  memory  of  men,  I  find  myself  no  fur- 
ther in  my  fondly  fostered  schemes,  but  actually 
thrown  back  by  my  opponents'  powers.  I  perceive 
that  there  is  an  underground  swell  in  the  ocean  of 
civilization  which  directs  the  coming  and  going  of 
the  waves  upon  which  my  bark  "  Oppression " 
sails  and  which  chases  the  ship  of  "Liberty."  This 
has  almost  escaped  from  me,  steering  to  the  safe  port  of 
"  Enlightenment !  "  Yet  I  will  not  give  up  the 
pursuit.  I  yet  must  take  her  and  force  the  audacious 
crew  to  lower  their  flag,  flaunting  the  hated  insignia, 
"Law  ! "  It  is  a  struggle  for  life  or  death  ! 

I  am  not  the  historian  of  the  Jews ;  and  only  so 
far  as  they  intrude  themselves  into  the  affairs  of  the 
world  with  a  tenacity  and  patient  endurance,  and 
only  so  long  as  they  thwart  my  aims  and  objects,  do 
I  find  myself  forced  to  take  notice  of  them  and  con- 
tinue to  combat  their  cursed  existence.  In  our  last 
encounter  I  believed  that  they  were  utterly  and 
hopelessly  crushed.  Death  had  fearfully  emaciated 
their  number.  The  few  who  escaped  were  outlawed 
and  proscribed,  finding,  for  the  time,  shelter  and  ex- 
istence in  caves  and  the  darkness  of  the  forests. 
Never  before  had  they  been  doomed  to  such  abject 
misery  and  despair ;  never  were  they  so  near  the  verge 
of  total  destruction.  And  now,  strange  to  say,  not 
more  than  some  decades  pass  when,  as  if  jby  }>r evi- 
dential intercession,  they  emerge  from  their  retreats. 
Not  of  their  own  volition  alone,  but  actually  sought 
and  entreated  to  come  back,  and  are  welcomed  by  those 
who  had  persecuted  and  smitten  them.  Their  ab- 
sence everywhere  was  sorely  felt  and  bitterly  la- 


276  BEN  BEOR. 

merited.  The  farmers  clamored  for  their  earliest 
restitution,  declaring  that  they  knew  not  how  to  get 
along  without  the  Hebrews,  many  of  the  Jews  be- 
ing travelling  merchants  and  needful  to  the  peas- 
antry. Tradesmen  and  merchants  were  equally 
anxious  for  the  return  of  the  Israelites,  as  there  was 
neither  life  nor  progress  without  their  natural  ability 
for  selling  and  buying.  The  Church  itself  desired 
the  return  of  the  Jews,  deriving  from  these  heretics 
her  best  tithes  and  fat  incomes.  Still  more  was  the 
absence  of  the  outcasts  felt  and  their  return  advo- 
cated by  the  nobility  and  aristocratic  landholders. 
Heretofore,  when  money  was  needed,  application 
could  be  made  to  the  Jews  and  the  funds  were 
raised  without  difficulty  or  great  sacrifices.  In 
many  instances  the  whole  business  affairs  and  man- 
agement of  estates  were  entrusted  to  these  faith- 
ful servants.  Cities  and  townships  which  had  sol- 
emnly stipulated  that  none  of  the  expatriated  should, 
for  one  or  two  hundred  years,  be  allowed  to  enter 
their  doors,  were  now  the  foremost  to  demand  them 
back.  As  accountants  and  financiers  they  could  not 
be  equalled  or  replaced,  and  in  many  cases  the  wheel 
of  State  became  clogged  and  affairs  were  thrown  into 
sad  confusion  by  the  want  of  the  practised  and 
skilled  hands  formerly  employed.  It  is  on  record 
that  bishops,  cardinals  and  princes  petitioned  the 
Emperor  Charles  IV.  for  the  return  of  the  Israelites. 
The  French  Dauphin  Charles,  who  reigned  at  that 
time,  actually  appointed  agents  to  hunt  them  up  and 
bring  them  back. 

And  they  did  come  back !  In  an  incredibly  short 
time  they  prospered  and  flourished  as  never  before. 
By  their  wonderful  virility  their  emaciated  lines 
filled  up  with  astonishing  celerity,  and  now  that  only 
four  generations  have  passed  since  the  terrible  chas- 
tisement, they  are  more  numerous  and  prosperous 
than  ever. 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  277 

But  other  and  much  graver  events  had  taken 
place  which  did  not  permit  me  to  remain  idle  dur- 
ing this  epoch.  Inside  of  the  all-powerful  Catholic 
Church,  by  her  own  moral  and  social  degeneration, 
sedition  and  rebellion  commenced  to  break  out, 
which  became  the  signal  for  the  most  fatal  and 
bloody  contentions.  The  shameless  corruption  and 
fathomless  infamy  of  some  of  the  clergy  at  this 
time  became  beyond  all  endurance  and  proved  a 
stench  in  the  nostrils  of  the  people.  Two  powerful 
and  renowned  writers,  the  Italian  poet,  Petrarca,  and 
the  French  theologian,  Nicalaus  de  Clemencis,  were, 
especially  instrumental  in  opening  the  eyes  of  the 
civilized  world  to  that  horrible  sink  of  bestial  crimes. 

The  disintegration  of  the  power  of  religion  was 
hastened  by  the  springing  up  upon  the  debris  of 
Time  a  flo\ver  which  threatened  to  overshadow  by 
its  strength  and  healing  qualities  the  moral  cancer 
eating  into  the  vitals  of  humanity.  Reason,  so  long 
and  successfully  suppressed,  would  stay  no  longer 
imprisoned,  but  burst  forth  with  a  primary  shoot, 
which  revealed  what  power  there  was  imbedded  in 
the  full  germ  when  once  brought  forth  and  per- 
mitted to  grow  unhindered  to  its  full  development. 
Far  away  in  the  wilderness  of  Bohemia  the  ringing 
signal  of  her  coming  was  given,  when  there  arose  the 
sturdy  Tzech,  Johannes  Huss,  throwing  the  gaunt- 
let of  free  thought  audaciously  into  the  face  of  His 
Holiness  the  Pope  and  the  whole  system  of  theology. 
This  humble  and  obscure  priest  staggered  all  Chris- 
tianity, and  with  his  declarations  and  theorems 
drew  the  torch  of  sedition  into  the  most  inflammable 
heap,  which  might  have  caused  a  universal  conflagra- 
tion, burning  to  cinders  and  ashes  the  throne  of  St. 
Peter.  He  found  at  once  followers  by  the  thou- 
sands, and  these  were  soon  massed  in  threatening 
attitude  against  the  Church  and  State.  It  took  all 


278  BEN  BBOR. 

my  strength  and  energy  to  ward  off  the  foreshadowed 
calamities.  The  new  apostle  of  freedom,  relying 
upon  the  indomitable  force  of  his  cause  and  the  pass- 
port of  safety  granted  him  by  His  Majesty  the  Ger- 
man Emperor  Sigismund,  foolishly  thrust  himself 
into  the  hands  of  his  enemies,  the  great  Council  of 
Constance.  They  scorned  his  arguments,  ignored 
the  imperial  mandate,  and  burned  him  at  the  stake. 
This  happened  July  6,  1414  A.  D.,  as  a  prelude  to 
much  more  stirring  events  with  which  my  baneful 
career  should  shortly  be  visited  in  another  part  of 
the  world.  I  trusted  the  interest  of  my  affairs  to 
the  greatly  increased  number  of  my  zealous  and 
anxious  agents  spread  all  over  the  continent.  After 
long  and  profound  pondering  it  became  clear  to  my 
mind  that  the  three  engines,  "  Drunkenness, "  "War" 
and  the  "  Blood-Accusation,"  would  no  longer  suffice 
for  the  accomplishment  of  my  mission.  A  fourth 
was  needed — the  power  to  kill  thought.  To  attain 
this  purpose  I  laid  my  plans  well  and  bent  my 
steps  southward. 

Section  II. — Mediaeval  Profundity. 

There  was  a  strange  scene  enacted  in  the  old 
Dominican  convent  of  St.  Stephen,  situated  in  the 
centre  of  the  ancient  Spanish  city  of  Salamanca. 
This  cloister  was  the  seat  of  one  of  the  oldest  and 
most  renowned  universities  of  the  world.  At  one  end 
of  the  great  academical  hall  were  seated,  on  a  raised 
dais,  arranged  in  semi-circle,  the  eminent  professors 
and  celebrated  students  of  astronomy,  geography, 
mathematics  and  other  branches  of  science.  With 
the  exception  of  a  few  private  persons  belonging  to 
the  nobility,  the  larger  majority  were  high  clericals, 
monks  and  friars,  all  arrayed  in  the  peculiar  garbs 
of  their  orders  and  ranks.  Most  of  them  were  old  and 


HISTORICAL,  PHANTASMAGORIA.  279 

hoary  men.  In  the  centre  of  the  group  sat  the  pre- 
siding officer,  the  Reverend  Bishop  of  Avila,  Ferdin- 
ando  de  Talavera.  At  the  long  tables,  placed  on 
the  ground  floor,  were  a  number  of  scribes,  busily 
recording  the  proceedings.  All  these  persons  were 
assembled  here  by  special  command  of  their  majes- 
ties King  Ferdinand  and  Queen  Isabella,  the  all- 
powerful  sovereigns  of  the  Spanish  Peninsula.  They 
were  entrusted  with  the  arduous  task  of  investigating 
a  theory,  entirely  novel  and  startling,  concerning 
the  shape  of  the  globe,  and  the  assertion  that  on  the 
other  side  of  the  circle  there  existed  undiscovered 
lands,  leading  directly  to  India  and  the  gold 
countries. 

There  stood  now  before  the  assembly  a  Genoa 
sailor,  certainly  a  remarkable  man,  both  in  stature 
and  appearance,  who  had  propounded  these  strange 
discoveries.  He  had  just  finished  his  statement 
and  arguments  before  this  learned  conclave. 
Exceeding  six  feet  in  height,  full  and  robust  in 
proportion,  animated  by  a  wonderful  enthusiasm  of 
conviction,  with  a  brilliant  flow  of  oratory,  the  fire 
of  his  eyes  and  the  heightened  color  mounting  his 
olive-tinted  cheeks  gave  him  semblance  to  the  pic- 
ture of  some  of  the  Grecian  demi-  god  heroes.  Close 
by,  to  the  right,  at  a  small  table,  sat  his  friend 
and  scientific  co-laborer,  the  Jew  Louis  de  Torres, 
with  heaps  of  books,  maps  and  charts  before  him ; 
these  he  reached  as  required  to  that  wonderful 
speaker,  Christopher  Columbus.  In  plain,  terse 
language  he  had  unfolded,  link  after  link,  the  con- 
clusive arguments  in  behalf  of  the  object  that  filled 
his  head,  heart  and  soul.  After  years  and  years  of 
incessant  struggle  with  adversity,  unable  to  make 
himself  heard  for  a  great  aim  of  his  life,  after 
knocking  in  vain  at  the  doors  of  the  wealthy  and 
mighty,  battling  with  ignorance  and  indifference,  at 


280  BEN  BEOR. 

last  a  ray  of  light  came  into  iris  despondency.  The 
king,  persuaded  by  favorite  friends,  had  granted  him 
an  audience  and  listened  to  his  fervent  pleadings. 
His  majesty,  on  pretense  of  ignorance  on  this  sub- 
ject, had  referred  the  whole  matter  to  a  council. 
Everything  depended  on  convincing  these  sages  that 
there  was  more  than  probable  certainty  in  the  scien- 
tific scheme  propounded,  and  so  the  sanguine  sea- 
captain  had  concentrated  his  very  best  efforts  to  pre- 
sent his  views  in  the  most  favorable  light.  Alas! 
the  greater  part  of  the  learned  "  Junto  "  came  pre- 
possessed against  him.  Was  he  not  a  dependent,  poor 
supplicant,  an  obscure  navigator,  unknown  among 
the  learned,  with  nothing  to  commend  him  but  a 
single  crochety  idea  which  contradicted  all  former 
experiences,  all  teachings  of  science  as  known  in 
these  days,  and,  worse  than  all,  in  direct  opposition 
to  the  infallible  dogmas  of  the  Holy  Bible  ?  True, 
he  was  before  them  by  sovereign  command,  but 
potentates  might  be  very  good  rulers,  warriors,  states- 
men and  diplomats;  questions  of  erudite  learning, 
however,  belonged  to  the  scholastic  world.  And  the 
heads  of  the  sages  in  the  land  were  now  congregated 
to  pass  sentence  upon  the  pretentious,  never  before 
heard  of  claims  of  this  proud  Genoan.  As  if  to  give 
emphasis  to  their  disdain  for  the  speaker,  hardly 
any  one  paid  earnest  attention  to  what  he  said. 
Some  whispered  among  themselves,  others  riveted 
their  eyes  upon  the  tomes  which  were  before  them, 
still  others  stealthily  made  coarse  jokes  and  hid  their 
shaven  heads  out  of  sight  while  laughing  and  chuck- 
ling. One  group  of  friars  alone,  those  belonging  to 
St.  Stephen,  paid  interested  attention  to  him.  These 
were  scientific  scholars,  and  showed  by  their  attitudes 
that  the  words  went  home  to  their  understanding, 
and  they  might  be  convinced  by  arguments.  And 
now  the  speaker  ceased. 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  281 

After  a  short  time  of  consultation  among  them- 
selves, an  old  priest,  with  a  large  volume  in  his 
hand,  drawled  out : — 

" Objection  No.  1. — The  great  Lactantius  says: — 
Is  any  one  so  foolish  as  to  believe  that  there  are  anti- 
podes, with  their  feet  opposite  to  ours  ;  people  who 
walk  with  their  heels  upward  and  their  heads  hang- 
ing down ;  that  there  is  a  part  of  the  world  in  which 
all  things  are  turned  topsy-turvy,  where  the  trees 
grow  with  their  branches  downward,  and  where  it 
rains,  hails  and  snows  upward?  The  idea  of  the 
rotundity  of  the  earth  was  the  cause  of  inventing 
the  fables  of  the  antipodes,  with  their  heels  in  the 
air.  Such  philosophers,  having  once  erred,  go  on 
in  their  absurdities,  defending  one  another." 

He  sat  down  amidst  the  approving  smiles  and 
nods  of  nearly  the  whole  august  congregation.  Then 
one  of  those  immensely  adipose,  round-headed  and 
full-cheeked  priests,  so  often  met  with  in  the  public 
streets,  arose,  and  his  long  double  chin  perfectly 
wobbled  as  he  opened  his  thick  lips  to  read  from  a 
volume  similar  to  that  of  the  first  replicant : — 

"  Objection  No.  2. — St.  Augustine — may  his  mem- 
ory be  blessed  ! — maintains  that  the  doctrine  of  the 
antipodes  is  incompatible  with  the  historical  founda- 
tion of  our  holy  church,  since  to  assert  that  there 
are  inhabited  lands  in  the  opposite  side  of  the  globe 
would  be  to  maintain  also  that  there  are  nations  not 
descended  from  our  common  father  Adam,  it  being 
impossible  for  them  to  have  passed  the  intervening 
ocean.  This  would  therefore  discredit  the  Bible, 
which  expressly  declares  that  all  men  are  descended 
from  one  common  parent." 

He,  too,  sat  down  now,  amidst  general  approving 
demonstrations  by  his  colleagues.  Then  there  arose 
a  gaunt,  sinister-looking  monk,  in  the  habiliments  of 
the  order  of  the  Dominicans;  from  the  girdle 


282  BEN  BEOR. 

around  his  waist  hung  suspended  a  large  ivory 
cross  ;  his  long,  clean-shaven  face  was  surrounded 
by  a  wreath-like  fringe  of  black  curly  hair ;  -the  rest 
of  his  head  was  bald.  His  dark,  small,  piercing 
eyes  were  overshadowed  by  dense  brows.  As  he 
spoke  a  sudden  hush,  an  absolute  silence  fell  upon 
the  assembly.  Everybody  knew  this  was  Tomaso 
Torquemada,  the  Grand  Inquisitor,  appointed  by 
Ferdinand  and  Isabella  to  this  holy  office,  and 
lately  confirmed  therein  with  unlimited  power  by  the 
See  of  Rome.  He  had  come  especially  from  Madrid, 
by  request  of  his  royal  sovereigns,  to  attend  this 
meeting.  All  were  eager  and  anxious  to  hear  what 
this  great  dignitary  of  the  Church  had  to  say  on  the 
absorbing  subject. 

Now,  it  so  happened  soon  after  my  arrival  at 
Salamanca  that  I  had  met  this  man.  On  presenting 
my  credentials  and  recommendations,  he  eagerly 
offered  me  the  then  vacant  post  of  the  third  grand 
inquisitor  of  the  realm,  with  prior  ship  and  residence 
held  heretofore  by  himself  at  Segovia,  being  con- 
firmed in  this  office,  through  his  mighty  influence, 
by  the  Holy  Father  at  Rome,  with  the  title  of 
Arbuez  de  Epila.  From  our  repeated  conversa- 
tions concerning  the  status  of  Catholicism,  in  which 
I  evinced  a  zeal  and  eagerness  for  the  maintenance 
of  absolute  priestly  rule,  he  recognized  in  me  a  fit 
confederate  for  his  extended  plans  and  schemes  with 
which  his  immense  brain  was  pregnant.  Submitting 
to  me  the  topics  of  Columbus  and  his  new  theories 
for  consideration  and  thorough  study,  I  was  able, 
without  much  difficulty,  to  lay  before  him  the  results 
of  my  reasoning.  These  were  embodied  in  the  fol- 
lowing conclusions : — 

The  views  propounded  by  the  foreign  sailor  are 
certainly  tainted  with  heresy,  but  from  all  infor- 
mation that  can  be  gleaned  he  is  unquestionably  a 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  283 

devout,  religious  man.  Now,  while  many  important 
passages  of  divine  Scripture  are  clearly -contradicted 
by  his  asseverations,  and  the  fathers  of  the  Church, 
besides  those  already  quoted — St.  Chrysostom,  St. 
Augustine,  St.  Jerome,  St.  Gregory  and  many  others 
— condemning  the  main  principles  of  his  plans,  yet 
might  there  be  found,  by  actual  experiment,  reality 
in  his  proposed  venture.  In  any  case,  he  must  be 
closely  questioned  as  to  the  heretical  part,  and  if  he 
cleared  his  skirts  from  offence  in  that  direction,  mild 
encouragement  should  be  extended  to  him.  Should 
his  calculations  prove  erroneous,  then  he  and  a  lot 
of  dangerous  adventurers  would  perish  in  the  wilder- 
ness of  the  ocean  and  never  be  heard  from  again. 
If,  however,  success  attended  the  captain  and  his 
crew,  the  fruits  thereof  would  certainly  redound  to 
the  glory  of  the  Church. 

My  new  patron  was  deeply  convinced  by  this 
irresistible  logic,  and,  being  much  impressed,  he 
spoke.  With  his  peculiar  thin  and  penetrating 
voice  he  said  : — 

"  The  third  objection  which  I  raise  consists  in 
this,  that  the  Book  of  Genesis,  the  Psalms  of  David, 
the  prophets,  the  epistles  and  gospels,  inclusive  of 
the  expositions  of  various  saints  and  reverend  com- 
mentators, are  clearly  and  heretically  contradicted 
by  the  innovating  problems  of  you,  Christopher  Co- 
lumbus. Make  answer  to  all  our  objections  !  " 

The  plain  and  simple  navigator,  as  he  now  took 
his  stand  to  reply  to  these  seemingly  overwhelming 
obstacles,  appeared  transformed  into  a  higher  being. 
A  great  degree  of  devout  feeling  gave  him  confi- 
dence, and  his  ardent  temperament  became  heated  to 
an  enraptured  enthusiasm  as  he  undauntedly  under- 
took to  impress  with  conviction  his  august  auditory. 
He  cast  aside  his  maps  and  charts  and  discarded  for 
the  task  before  him  momentarily  his  practical  and 


284  BEN  BEOR. 

scientific  lore ;  his  visionary  spirit  kindled  at  the 
doctrinal  objections  of  his  opponents,  and  he  met 
them  upon  their  own  ground,  pouring  forth  with  the 
grand  persuasive  tones  of  his  stentorian  voice  such 
magnificent  texts  of  the  Bible,  with  their  mysterious 
predictions  of  the  prophets,  considered  in  his  ecstasy 
as  forecasts  and  annunciations  of  the  sublime  dis- 
covery which  he  proposed. 

This  outburst  of  wonderful  eloquence  made  friends 
and  coadj  utors  who  afterward  proved  of  great  service 
for  the  accomplishment  of  the  designed  voyages  to 
the  unknown  Western  Lands.  But  for  the  present 
the  whole  subject  was  referred  to  the  presiding  officer 
of  this  conclave,  after  which  they  adjourned. 

Section  III. — A  Momentous  Wedding. 

In  one  of  the  stately  palaces  in  the  old  Castilian 
city  of  Segovia  there  was  boisterous  activity,  always 
signalizing  coming  festivities  of  a  marriage  in  high 
life.  It  consisted  of  the  endless  details  necessi- 
tated for  the  successful  consummation  of  such  a  gay 
and  brilliant  event.  Servants,  with  and  without 
livery,  hustled  one  another  in  the  discharge  of  their 
onerous  duties,  their  hurry  and  zeal  impressing  a 
beholder,  as  if  on  the  effort  of  each  individual  de- 
pended the  honor  of  their  noble  master  and  mistress. 
The  scene  was  certainly  a  vivid  and  picturesque  one, 
as  man-servants  and  maid-servants,  in  their  bright 
national  Spanish  costumes,  brilliant  in  colors  and 
quaint  in  shapes,  hied  hither  and  thither  through  the 
antique  halls.  Was  it  not  the  grand  fete-day  of  beau- 
tiful and  beloved  young  Bianca,  the  only  daughter  of 
the  millionaire  Count  Diego  de  Suson  ?  Not  more 
than  seventeen  years  of  age,  this  rapturous,  lovely 
seiiorita  was  to  wed  at  nightfall  the  cavalier,  sol- 
dier and  renowned  poet  Don  Gomez  Enriquez,  one 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  285 

of  the  bravest  captains  in  the  Spanish  army,  highly 
distinguished  for  his  valor  as  an  officer  and  greatly 
honored  for  the  genius  in  his  many  literary  writings. 

Night  has  come,  the  turmoil  throughout  the 
princely  apartment  subsides,  quiet  is  restored,  and 
everything  is  in  readiness  for  the  solemnization  of 
the  auspicious  ceremony.  The  bridegroom,  with  a 
superb  train  of  relatives,  comrades  and  friends,  had 
arrived.  Among  the  guests  who  came  with  him  was 
Christopher  Columbus,  who  led  in  his  beloved  wife 
Beatrice  de  Enriquez,  a  near  relative  of  her  name- 
sake Don  Gomez.  They  were  followed  by  their  in- 
timate friend,  the  astronomer  Louis  de  Torres. 

As  the  vesper-bells  rang  from  the  many-towered 
cathedrals  adjoining  the  celebrated  "Alcazar,"  the 
whole  bridal  cortege  repaired  to  the  magnificent 
chapel,  located  on  the  west  wing  of  the  palace. 
Every  good  and  wealthy  Catholic  sets  aside  a  promi- 
nent part  of  his  domicile  for  religious  purposes. 
Here  the  reverend  vicar,  Father  Petros  Davilla,  a  near 
relative  of  the  Bishop  of  Segovia,  in  stole  and  mitre, 
received  them  at  the  brilliantly  illuminated  altar, 
and,  after  going  through  the  gorgeous  ritual  of  the 
Church,  pronounced  the  words  which  made  the  young 
couple  husband  and  wife,  dismissing  them  with  the 
usual  canonical  blessing.  Amidst  showers  of  kisses 
and  congratulations,  the  happy  pair  and  the  whole 
assemblage  now  repaired  to  the  brilliantly  illumi- 
nated state-room,  finely  decorated  and  prepared  for 
the  reception  of  the  august  company. 

The  main  actors  in  this  domestic  drama,  on  ex- 
cuse of  changing  their  toilets,  momentarily  disap- 
peared. It  was  noticed  that  a  few  others  also  quietly 
and  unostentatiously  were  gone,  all  no  doubt  be- 
lieving that  their  absence  would  not  be  noticed  in  so 
large  a  crowd. 

Then  in  one  of  the  subterranean  recesses  of  the 


286  BEN  BEOE. 

pile  another  strange  scene  took  place,  as  unique  and 
peculiar,  as  it  was  enacted  in  the  utmost  silence  and 
secrecy.  The  bishop  who  had  officiated  in  the  chapel 
was  here,  the  most  prominent  of  the  people  assem- 
bled. Instead  of  wearing  the  sacred  insignia  of  his 
Christian  ecclesiastical  rank,  he  had  now  a  black 
baretta  upon  his  head,  and  was  dressed  in  the  char- 
acteristic gaberdine  of  a  Jewish  rabbi.  There  was 
thrown  over  his  head  a  silken  shawl  hanging  down 
to  his  waist,  ending  on  both  sides  with  peculiar 
knotted  woollen  fringes.  A -table  on  which  stood 
two  lighted  candles  and  the  same  number  of  goblets 
filled  with  wine  was  right  before  him.  Now  there 
entered  from  the  western  portal  a  short  procession 
of  men  and  women.  Under  a  canopy  carried  by 
four  friends  walked  the  newly-married  pair,  fol- 
lowed by  their  parents  and  a  number  of  attendants. 
As  these  approached  the  East,  the  pseudo-priest 
chanted  in  Hebrew  with  most  doleful  tones  the  words 
of  the  Psalm  cxxvi : — 

"  When  the  Lord  shall  bring  back  the  captives  of  Zion, 
We  shall  be  like  those  who  awake  from  a  dream  ! " 

As  the  words  passed  his  trembling  lips,  his  voice 
repeatedly  faltered  and  tears  rolled  down  his  cheeks. 
The  whole  company  wept  bitterly  with  him.  Amidst 
their  sobs  and  mournful  ejaculations  the  Rabbi  now 
read  the  Jewish  marriage  ceremonial,  and  wedded 
them  according  to  the  laws  of  Moses  and  Israel. 
The  ring  being  placed  on  the  bride's  finger,  the 
blessing  over  the  wine  said,  the  usual  prayer  chanted 
and  the  benedictions  bestowed,  kisses  and  congratu- 
lations being  exchanged  once  more,  the  company 
departed  as  noiselessly  and  stealthily  as  they  had 
come,  and  soon  reappeared,  the  priest  in  his  cassock, 
among  the  impatiently  waiting  guests  above.  The 
feast  now  proceeded,  hilarity  and  mirth  ruled 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  287 

supreme  till  daylight  broke  through  the  windows, 
when  the  visitors,  one  after  another,  most  in  a  state 
of  intoxication  from  the  heavy  Andalusian  wines 
which  had  flowed  like  water,  departed  for  their  sev- 
eral homes.  The  last  one  to  leave  the  palace  was 
the  venerable  Father  Petros  Da  villa.  He  had  been 
carried  in  a  sedan  chair  all  the  way  from  his  home 
at  a  distant  diocese  to  attend  the  holy  offices  of  the 
church  at  the  marriage  of  the  only  daughter  of  his 
life-long  friend,  the  Count  de  Suson.  He  was  now 
belated,  it  being  long  after  sunrise.  According  to 
special  and  urgent  request  of  his  host  and  the  fair 
Beatrice  de  Enriquez,  he  had  attended  a  confidential 
meeting  with  Columbus  and  DeTorres.  These  had  left 
with  despairing,  depressed  spirits  the  learned  commis- 
sion convened  by  royal  mandate  at  Salamanca.  Every 
effort  to  convince  this  body  of  prejudiced  and  stulti- 
fied clerical  scientists  of  the  feasibility  of  discover- 
ing some  unknown  Western  Hemisphere  had  failed, 
and  the  sanguine  hopes  of  the  Genoa  sailor  were 
dashed  to  the  ground.  There  was  nothing  to  be  ex- 
pected from  the  bigoted,  narrow-minded  Bishop  of 
Avila,  to  whom,  as  president  of  the  conclave,  the 
whole  matter  had  been  referred.  Humiliated,  utterly 
cast  down  and  crushed  in  spirit,  the  captain  and 
his  friend  returned  late  that  evening  to  their  tem- 
porary home  in  the  city.  Senora  Beatrice  here  had 
long  and  feverishly  awaited  their  coming.  She, 
poor  woman,  had  dedicated  her  whole  young  life  to 
this  noble,  ambitious  man,  and  he,  although  of 
mature  age,  loved  her  with  an  ardor  and  constancy 
that  would  have  done  credit  to  a  youthful  swain. 
True,  the  church  had  never  sanctioned  their  union. 
As  a  foreigner  and  away  from  friends  and  home  it 
\yas  impossible  for  him  to  procure  the  necessary 
proofs  of  his  legal  rights  to  marry  the  lady.  The 
priests  were  inexorable  about  the  technicalities.  But 


288  BEN  BEOR. 

he  had  publicly  acknowledged  her  as  his  wife,  and 
in  their  connubial  companionship  were  all  in  all  to 
one  another.  Such  alliances  were  not  infrequent 
among  the  southern  people.  Although  the  clergy 
looked  upon  them  with  disfavor,  yet  the  citizens, 
knowing  and  readily  comprehending  the  surrounding 
circumstances,  acknowledged  as  valid  and  irreproach- 
able such  civil  contracts,  especially  if  the  children 
begotten  in  such  unions  were  registered  in  the  civil 
courts  as  legitimate,  which  was  publicly  known  to 
have  been  done  afterward  at  the  birth  of  their  son 
Fernando.  - 

During  their  happy  and  most  felicitous  marital 
life,  often  and  often  it  had  been  the  trying  task  of 
the  lady  to  uphold  and  cheer  the  frequent  moods  of 
dejection  and  dispiritedness  caused  by  the  many  fail- 
ures and  disappointments  in  hopes  and  anticipations 
of  her  fondly  loved  husband,  with  whom  she  shared 
all  the  exuberant  dreams  of  the  ultimate  success  in 
his  schemes  and  plans.  By  her  magnificently 
blended  qualities  of  true  womanly  devotion  of  heart 
and  a  superior  eloquence,  inspired  by  her  love,  she 
thus  far  always  had  succeeded  in  raising  his  sinking 
spirits.  But  when  he  returned  that  evening,  she 
read  in  his  countenance  and  that  of  his  friend  the  par- 
oxysm of  despondency  which  agitated  both.  Neither 
her  soothing  words,  passionate  caresses,  nor  her 
freely-flowing  tears  had  this  time  the  wonted  effect 
to  dispel  the  gloom  and  darkness  with  which  the 
two  men  stared  into  the  starless  future.  Under 
these  un propitious  circumstances  the  vehicle  arrived 
to  take  them  all  to  the  wedding  of  their  friends  at 
Segovia,  which  was  to  transpire  on  to-morrow  even- 
ing. This  involved  a  journey  of  ten  hours,  and  it 
was  now  past  midnight.  Gladly  would  they  have 
stayed  at  home  in  their  grief-stricken  and  forlorn 
condition.  Full  of  sadness  they  reluctantly  got 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  289 

ready  and  started.  It  seemed  more  like  a  funeral 
cortege  than  a  trip  to  a  wedding  feast.  In  due  time 
they  arrived  at  the  palace.  When  the  ceremonies 
were  over  and  while  the  festivities  were  in  progress, 
the  lady  had  found  a  chance  to  meet  the  Count 
Diego  and  make  him  a  confidant  of  her  troubles. 
After  mature  consideration,  they  called  on  the 
Vicar  Davilla,  requesting  his  presence  at  a  family 
consultation.  This  had  just  been  concluded,  with 
the  favorable  result  of  quieting  and  restoring  the 
disturbed  temper  of  the  captain  and  his  friend  to 
an  equinanimous  condition,  principally  achieved  by 
appealing  to  their  religious  feelings,  directing  their 
hearts  and  souls  to  trust  in  the  wisdom  and  good- 
ness of  an  over-ruling  Providence.  And  now,  after 
a  most  devoted  and  affectionate  farewell,  the  pious 
prelate,  ready  to  depart,  descended  to  his  sedan 
chair,  which  was  waiting.  The  whole  family  had 
accompanied  him  to  the  door ;  then  they  retired. 
As  soon  as  he  had  entered  the  spacious  and  comfort- 
able vehicle,  closed  on  all  sides  by  silken  curtains, 
he  took  from  the  recesses  of  his  wide  cassock  a  little 
bag.  This  contained  a  set  of  philacteries.  Placing 
one  around  his  head  and  winding  the  other  around 
his  left  arm,  he  commenced  to  say  in  Hebrew  his 
morning  prayers.  At  this  moment  those  watching 
at  the  windows  in  the  palace  saw  mounted  men 
approach  the  sedan  chair,  commanding  its  carriers 
to  halt.  They  then  sprang  to  the  ground,  tore 
away  the  curtains,  dragged  the  old  priest  from  his 
place,  and,  accoutred  as  he  was,  shackled  him  with 
heavy  irons.  They  were  recognized  by  the  specta- 
tors above  as  the  myrmidons  of  the  Inquisition. 
Consternation  now  ruled  supreme  in  the  household 
of  the  noble  family.  By  imperative  command  of 
the  Count,  the  young  husband  mounted  the  fleetest 
charger  in  the  stables  and  iled  for  his  life,  leaving  his 


290  BEN  BEOR. 

young  wife,  who  had  swooned  in  his  arms,  to  the 
protective  care  of  her  parents.  Columbus,  Beatrice 
and  De  Torres  were  gotten  quietly  but  hastily  away. 
Their  attendance  here  must  either  have  been  ignored 
or  never  known,  for  they  were  of  the  few  of  the 
company  who  were  not  afterwards  harassed  or  mo- 
lested. Most  of  the  others,  including  De  Suson,  his 
wife  and  daughter,  found  themselves,  that  very 
same  day,  prisoners  in  the  dungeon  of  the  Third 
Grand  Inquisitor,  the  Bishop  Arbuez  de  Epiia,  of 
Segovia. 

Section  IV. — Misericordia  d  Justitia. 

There  is  no  spot  in  the  world  where  measures  of 
greater  importance  for  the  weal  or  woe  of  mankind 
were  devised  than  in  the  narrow,  cell-like  rectory  of 
the  Cathedral  at  Segovia.  Adjoining  the  fine  altar  in 
the  vestibule,  this  little  room  is  commonly  used 
during  service  for  the  robing  of  the  officiating 
priests,  from  whence  they  issue  through  a  side  door 
leading  to  the  altar  of  the  magnificent  edifice.  At 
high  noon  of  this  day,  however,  when  the  arrests  by 
the  sheriffs  of  the  Inquisition  were  made  at  the 
palace  of  Diego  de  Suson,  the  sun  shone  through  the 
long  but  narrow  windows  upon  four  individuals, 
dressed  in  the  sombre  garbs  of  the  order  of  the 
Dominicans,  who  were  seated  at  a  long  table  which 
filled  out  nearly  the  whole  space.  A  tomb  could  not 
have  been  more  secluded  than  this  place.  Yet,  for 
greater  precaution,  monks  of  the  same  order  flitted 
in  and  out  from  the  numerous  recesses  and  nooks  of 
the  cloister-like  structure,  warning  off  the  passers. 
Aside  of  this,  the  great  bell  in  the  immense  tower 
tolled  at  regular  intervals  a  single  low  and  hollow 
peal  from  its  brazen  mouth,  advising  the  people 
that  they  must  stay  away  from  the  neighborhood  of 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  291 

the  cathedral.  To  complete  all,  the  chief  Alguazil  of 
the  Holy  Office,  with  a  band  of  armed  knaves,  guarded 
the  outside  portal  and  all  entrances  to  the  church. 
Thus  it  was  proclaimed  that  the  "Consejo  de  la 
Suprema"  was  in  regular  session. 

At  the  head  of  the  table  sat  the  General  Grand 
Inquisitor,  Tomaso  Torquemada;  opposite  him  the 
chief  scribe,  Christoval  Galvez,  of  Valencia ;  to  the 
right  was  his  eminence  Cardinal  Petre  Gonzales  de 
Mendoza,  archbishop  of  Saragossa  and  Second  Grand 
Inquisitor;  to  his  left  sat  I,  the  Third  Grand  Inquisi- 
tor of  Segovia.  This  was  the  august  tribunal  in 
whose  consecrated  hands  lay  the  fate  of  the  world 
for  the  present  and  for  centuries  to  come. 

They  had  but  one  solitary  object,  were  unanimous 
in  their  work,  and  knew  but  one  ambition.  The 
Catholic  religion  was  ike  sole  and  only  faith,  as  the 
supreme  mistress  of  the  globe  !  If  persuasion  and  re- 
monstrance would  convert  the  heretics,  well  and  good  ! 
This  failing,  torture  and  death  !  No  pretense,  no  sham, 
no  mere  conversion  should  suffice.  Total  allegiance  was 
required  and  exclusively  accepted.  To  the  fire  with  the 
impostors  !  His  Holiness  the  Pope  Sextus  IV .  had 
sanctioned  the  fanatic  zeal  of  the  Spanish  Domini- 
cans, confirmed  the  Inquisitor-General  in  his  office 
of  hierarchical  absolute  power,  and  sent  his  nuncio 
extraordinary,  Antonio  Palavicini,  to  the  court  of 
Madrid. 

Their  Royal  Highnesses  Ferdinand  and  Isabella 
were  fully  in  accord  with  the  priests,  though  from 
different  motives.  Ferdinand,  with  his  vaulting 
ambition  for  power,  avaricious  and  greedy,  saw  in 
this  movement  the  strengthening  of  his  sceptre;  but 
mostly  the  filling  of  his  much  decimated  coffers,  which 
grew  empty  by  incessant  warfare  and  the  extrava- 
gance of  the  court.  Confiscation  of  wealth  from  the 
convicted  sinners,  of  which  he  was  promised  one- 


292  BEN   BEOR. 

third,  was  for  him  perhaps  the  paramount  induce- 
ment to  lend  his  power  to  the  machinations  of  the 
church.  Isabella,  however,  with  her  pious,  bigoted 
disposition,  augmented  by  being  continually  under 
the  influence  of  her  bland  but  jealous  father -confessor, 
Ferdinando  de  Talavera,  Bishop  of  Avila,  she  was 
mainly  actuated  in  joining  the  forces  of  the  church 
by  a  sacred  vow  made  before  entering  upon  the 
conquest  of  the  infidel  Moors  in  the  province  and 
city  of  Grenada,  that  if  the  Lord  would  bestow 
victory  upon  the  banners  of  Christianity,  she  would 
use  all  her  might  and  power  to  exterminate  heresy 
from  the  empire.  And  now  the  infidels  had  been 
conquered.  The  last  of  the  Moslem  chiefs,  Boabdil 
el  Chico,  had  surrendered  on  the  twentieth  of  Septem- 
ber, 1487,  with  all  his  possessions  and  rights  to  the 
Spanish  crown.  What  could  she  do  now  less  than  to 
fulfil  her  sacred  oath  and  promise?  Both  the  king 
and  queen,  therefore,  not  only  acquiesced  but  actively 
entered  into  the  scheme,  driving  the  unbelievers  from 
their  realms.  For  the  achievement  of  this  supreme 
purpose  they  placed  Torquemada  at  the  helm  of  the 
already  powerful  Inquisition. 

For  nearly  one  hundred  years  had  the  irrepressi- 
ble civil  and  church  power  caused  thousands  of  the 
hated  Jews  to  submit  to  baptism  under  the  name  of 
"  New  Christians,"  who,  with  the  crucifix  in  their 
hands,  succeeded  in  escaping  persecution  and  death. 

It  seemed  a  step  forward  to  evangelize  the  world. 
If  only  the  sprinkling  of  the  head  with  the  holy 
water  could  be  invested  with  the  power  to  penetrate 
to  the  heart !  But  in  this  the  baptismal  font  and  the 
proffered  sacramental  chalice  offered  to  and  accepted 
by  the  mouth,  miserably  failed,  making  wretched 
hypocrites  and  mercenary  dupes  of  the  new  acquisi- 
tions. True,  some  of  the  new,  worthless  converts, 
with  the  usual  over-zeal  of  that  class,  for  the 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  293 

achievement  of  coveted  worldly  ends,  turned  sav- 
agely against  their  former  friends  and  co-religion- 
ists, embittering  and  endangering  their  lives  even 
worse  than  the  original  enemy.  It  became  a  saying, 
"  Accursed  is  the  apostate  to  the  seventieth  genera- 
tion." Yet  the  vox  populi  estimated  the  whole  class 
of  the  deserters  rightly  and  named  them  "The 
Marannen,"  a  corrupted  use  of  the  Latin  malediction, 
"  Anathema  Maranatha."  By  far  the  greatest  num- 
ber of  these  renegades,  while  publicly  practising  all 
the  rights  and  requirements  of  their  newly  adopted 
obligations,  idolatrous  and  superstitious  to  their 
minds,  secretly  remained  true  and  steadfast  to  the 
religion  of  their  fathers.  In  the  hidden  recesses  of 
their  homes  they  clung  steadily  to  their  inherited 
faith,  and  observed  most  scrupulously  the  rites  and 
uses  of  the  Mosaic  and  Rabbinical  laws.  Nor  was 
the  race-affinity  extinguished  by  the  forced  acquisi- 
tions of  the  church.  On  the  contrary,  pity,  sympathy 
and  tolerant  forbearance  continued  to  flow  between 
the  steadfast  members  of  the  Semites  and  the 
apparently  severed  renegades  from  the  fold.  All 
this  could  have  been  easily  borne  or  overlooked  by 
the  not  over-scrupulous  faith  which  had  so  easily 
adopted  these  newly  found  children,  had  not  new 
and  unforeseen  complications  arisen  which  threatened 
to  absorb  the  absorber  and  engulf  papacy  and 
monarchy.  The  ecclesiastical  and  civil  courts  must, 
as  a  natural  consequence  of  the  recognized  position 
of  these  new  Christians,  remove  all  the  former  bars 
raised  against  them  when  they  yet  were  noncon- 
formists ;  must  admit  them  to  all  the  rights,  privi- 
leges and  honors  of  the  old  members  of  the  country 
and  church.  Freed  from  the  hindering  obstacles 
which  hitherto  had  bound  them,  the  aggressive  spirit 
of  the  race,  which  neither  the  holy  water  nor  the  sacred 
wine  and  bread  could  extirpate,  became  manifested 


294  BEN  BEOR. 

to  a  staggering  degree.  They,  by  inborn  shrewdness, 
frugality  and  long-practised  talent  for  financial  enter- 
prises, accumulated  with  preponderating  rapidity 
and  success  unparalleled  stores  of  wealth,  thereby 
gaining  immense  power  and  influence.  Intermar- 
riage with  the  nobles  and  aristocrats,  no  longer  inter- 
dicted, made  them  of  the  flesh  and  blood  of  the 
highest  grandees,  the  lords  and  the  princes  of  the 
realm.  By  long  cherished  traditional  Levitic  descent 
and  superior  education,  these  "  Sephardim,"  as  the 
southern  Hebrews  called  themselves,  claimed  to  be 
the  nobility  of  the  race.  With  fine,  stately  appear- 
ances, haughty,  proud  spirits,  and  backed  by  all  the 
refinements  and  glamours  which  wealth  lends  to  its 
possessors,  what  more  natural  than  their  success  in 
matrimonial  alliances  with  the  fiery,  easily  impressed 
and  early  matured  daughters  of  Hispanola,  whose 
love  of  the  romantic  perceived  in  these  new  chevaliers 
desirable  suitors  for  their  hands  and  hearts  ?  Many 
of  these  young  men  had  already  titles  of  nobility ; 
others  by  influence  and  money  could  easily  procure 
them,  if  permitting  themselves  to  be  handsomely 
bled  by  the  always  impoverished  exchequer  of  the 
sovereigns.  Thus  an  entire  upheaval  in  the  social 
relations  was  threatened  ;  all  the  more  so,  as  the  line 
of  the  young  nobility  was  continually  emaciated  by 
the  never-ceasing  wars,  and  one  of  the  spruce, 
comely  and  rich  Marannen  was  mostly  acceptable 
to  the  not  over-scrupulous  noble  maidens.  Not 
three  generations  had  thus  passed  when  Jewish 
blood  flowed  in  the  veins  of  many  of  the  ancient 
families  of  the  proud  Hidalgos. 

Nor  did  this  constitute  the  only  or  supreme  dan- 
ger. A  considerable  number  of  the  proselytes  had 
taken  to  high  studies,  many  becoming  ordained 
members  of  the  clergy,  and  several  attaining  to  the 
priestly  dignities  of  bishops  and  cardinals.  These 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  295 

people  had  by  their  early  training  imbibed  the 
Hebrew  spirit  of  the  Torah  and  the  Talmud ;  but 
what  was  to  be  far  more  feared  was  the  wonder- 
ful and  acute  analytical  philosophy  of  one  of  the 
foremost  writers  the  world  has  ever  seen,  the  match- 
less physician  and  rabbi,  Moses  Maimonides.  Since 
Plato  and  Aristotle,  no  reasoning  and  profundity 
had  with  such  illustrious  brilliancy  risen  in  the 
annals  of  profane  or  sacred  literature  as  this  super- 
latively great  author.  Although  he  had  lived  nearly 
three  hundred  years  ago  at  Cordova,  yet  the  already 
ripe  persecutions  of  the  time  drove  him  from  his 
native  land  and  he  settled,  after  many  vicissitudes, 
in  Cairo  (old),  where  he  became  court  physician  to 
the  renowned  Kaliph  Saladin,  and  where,  during 
the  rest  of  his  career,  he  composed  those  unparal- 
leled master-works  of  human  thought  which  seem 
inspired  like  the  ancient  writings  of  the  prophets 
and  seers.  Fortunately  for  me  and  my  cause  they 
were  written  in  the  Arabic  language,  and  therefore 
accessible  to  few.  Otherwise  they  would  long  since 
have  revolutionized  the  world,  surely  and  ultimately 
overthrowing  superstition,  priestcraft  and  despotism. 
Especially  is  this  the  case  with  one  of  his  books 
called  "Moreh  N'buchim"  (guide  of  the  perplexed). 
So  transcendent,  clear  and  comprehensive  are  devel- 
oped therein  the  principles  of  right,  law,  justice, 
conscience  and  freedom,  that  all  the  powers  of  dark- 
ness will  crumble  to  pieces  if  these  teachings  shall 
once  be  universally  known  and  accepted.  Men 
of  his  own  learned  profession,  benighted  by  the  old 
orthodox  spirit  with  which  they  have  groped  through 
the  centuries,  could  not  stand  the  flood  of  blinding 
light  which  is  shed  by  this  powerful  lens,  and  often 
quarrelling  and  fuming  over  the  (to  them)  incompre- 
hensible teachings,  these  Rabbins  themselves  had 
excommunicated  the  author  and  publicly  burned  the 


296  BEN  BEOR. 

volumes.  Imagine  then,  who  can,  this  corrosive 
element  injected  into  the  dark  blood  of  Popery.  Who 
can  calculate  the  consequences,  if  this  insidious 
power  is  permitted,  unhindered  and  unstemmed,  to 
insinuate  itself  into  the  marrow  and  bones  of  the 
church,  which  as  yet  not  even  permitted  her  children 
the  right  to  read  the  Bible,  Talmud  or  Koran. 

And  to  crown  all  in  this  perplexed  situation, 
there  had  arisen  from  out  of  the  loins  of  the  uncon- 
verted Jews,  contemporaneous  with  all  these  present 
complications,  one  of  those  phenomenal  giant-minds, 
who  appear  as  if  by  providential  direction,  always 
in  the  hour  of  greatest  need  among  those  accursed 
people,  giving  them  renewed  strength,  vigor  and 
power,  and  saving  them  from  annihilation  at  the 
very  brink  of  destruction.  Don  Isaac  ben  Juda 
Abarbanel  came  as  if  in  the  nick  of  time  such  a 
chosen  instrument.  Born  in  Lisbon,  1437,  he  was 
a  scion  of  an  illustrious  ancestry,  dating  back, 
according  to  well-preserved  family  traditions,  to 
King  David.  The  grandson  of  the  celebrated  Sam- 
uel Abarbanel,  sainted  and  martyred  two  gener- 
ations ago,  this  young  Don  Isaac  had  attained  to 
high  and  distinguished  honors  at  the  throne  of 
Portugal.  Alphonso  V.,  an  enlightened,  tolerant, 
amiable  and  benignant  sovereign,  whose  attention 
was  casually  directed  to  the  youthful  statesman  and 
financier,  soon  raised  him  to  the  honor  of  minister 
of  state,  made  him  his  confidential  adviser  and 
general  favorite.  Unfortunately,  in  the  midst  of  so 
promising  a  career  his  majesty  died  and  was  suc- 
ceeded by  loao  II.  (1481),  in  every  respect  the  oppo- 
site of  his  great  father.  Jealousy,  dissension  and 
false  accusation  soon  prepared  the  downfall  of  Abar- 
banel, and  he  had  to  flee  for  life  from  his  native 
land,  leaving  behind  a  loving  wife  and  three  prom- 
ising sons,  also  great  wealth  and  possessions.  By 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  297 

an  almost  miraculous  escape  from  pursuing  officers, 
he  reached,  after  great  hardships  and  privations,  the 
Spanish  city  of  Toledo,  where  he  took  up  his  tem- 
porary residence.  His  family  was  permitted  to  join 
him,  but  all  his  earthly  goods  were  confiscated. 
Reduced  to  abjeet  poverty,  he  was,  notwithstanding, 
received  by  his  co-religionists  and  the  educated 
Christians  with  great  distinction  and  hospitality. 
He  devoted  at  first  all  his  time  to  much-neglected 
literary  works.  In  this,  his  favorite  occupation,  he 
was  not,  however,  to  remain  long.  His  reputation 
as  a  political  economist  and  diplomat  had  long  pre- 
ceded him,  and  the  court  at  Madrid,  being  in  sore 
want  of  such  talents,  after  a  short  interval,  called 
him  into  the  service  of  the  Spanish  sovereigns. 
Here,  too,  he  succeeded  in  making  himself  almost 
indispensable  to  the  Catholic  royalties,  enjoying  for 
a  time  a  peerless  influence,  even  among  the  hostile 
courtiers  and  the  hateful  prelates.  Thereby  he  became 
a  veritable  tower  of  protection  to  his  otherwise  help- 
less brethren,  standing  between  them  and  the  ever- 
increasing  wrath  of  the  Inquisition. 

Fearful  as  had  already  been  the  persecution 
against  the  hapless  Marannen  by  the  church  since 
the  official  introduction  of  the  Inquisition,  yet  the 
culmination  of  their  misfortune  was  reached  when 
the  primates  of  the  holy  tribunal  now  in  session  at 
the  rectory  at  the  Dominican  cathedral  of  Segovia, 
concocted  the  means  by  which  to  entirely  extermin- 
ate the  hated  race. 

When  the  eminent  secretary  had  finished  reading 
the  former  proceedings  of  this  august  body,  which 
pictured  fully  and  completely  the  ineffectual  results 
thus  far  attained,  in  spite  of  the  frequently  repeated 
auto  da  fe  and  its  terrible  adjunct,  the  torture,  it 
became  apparent  to  the  Junta  that  still  more  strin- 
gent and  searching  expedients  were  necessary  to 


298  BEN  BEOR. 

accomplish  the  ruin  of  their  victims.  Then  it  was 
that  his  eminence  the  Inquisitor-General  drew  from 
the  pockets  of  his  robe  a  written  document  contain- 
ing the  twenty-eight  rules  which  should  become 
historically  notorious  for  their  abnormal  severity 
and  radical  stringency,  and  as  he  'handed  them  to 
the  secretary  to  be  read,  addressed  us  in  these  words : 

"  Brethren  and  co-laborers  in  the  glorious  mission 
of  purifying  our  revered  church  from  the  damnable 
taints  of  heresy  and  rational  unbelief!  Now  or 
never  we  must  succeed !  Away  with  -maudlin  feel- 
ings and  sympathies  !  Let  the  reign  of  the  Savior 
come  on  the  wings  of  a  chariot  of  fire.  Down  with 
the  traitors !  Down  with  the  dissenters !  Let  us 
hear  and  adopt  these  articles.  They  are  the  inspired 
work  of  our  great  coadjutor,  this  our  dear  brother 
of  Segovia.  The  Holy  Father  at  Kome  ought  to 
canonize  him  for  the  sublime  conception.  It  will 
strike  our  enemies  with  the  sword  of  Gideon! " 

The  utmost  quiet  reigned.  The  strained  attitude 
of  breathless  attention  was  almost  painful.  Then 
the  reading  commenced.  These  long-drawn-out 
rules  contained  five  principal  sections,  in  twenty- 
eight  paragraphs : 

1.  From  Nos.  1  to  10  deal  with  the  summons  for 
the  heretics  to  come  forward  and  confess,  also  the 
duties  of  the  submissive. 

2.  From  Nos.  11  to  13  concern  themselves  with 
the  penalties  in  the  prisons  of  the  office. 

3.  From  Nos.  14  to  19  deal  with  the  procedure 
of  trial,  inclusive  of  the  torture. 

4.  From  Nos.  20  to  21  constitute  the  jurisdiction 
over  dead  heretics  and  the  vassals  of  living  nobles. 

5.  From  Nos.  21  to  28  inclusive,  establish  points 
in  the  details  of  management. 

During  and  after  the  reading  of  the  sections,  these 
grave  and  reverend  signores  behaved  like  a  parcel  of 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  299 

over-exuberant  schoolboys.  They  shouted  accla- 
mations to  each  rule ;  they  jumped  violently  from 
their  seats,  entranced  with  every  measure;  they 
chipped  their  hands  and  boisterously  laughed  with 
satisfaction  over  the  proposed  enactments.  Finally, 
at  the  end  of  the  reading,  such  exclamations  were 
heard  as  these  :  "  We'll  do  it — we  have  got  them 
surely !  Misericordia  et  Justitia !  " 

So  the  enormities  of  the  twenty-eight  rules  wrere 
adopted  unanimously.  They  needed  for  full  forpe 
yet  the  approval  of  the  full  Consejo,  which  was 
called  shortly  to  meet  at  Seville,  when  six  apostol- 
ical councillors,  the  fiscal  procurator,  twro  more  secre- 
taries, and  the  grand  treasurer  were  to  be  present  to 
approve  and  sign  the  document,  as  was  now  done  by 
all  convened  here.  But  this  was  only  a  technicality, 
every  person  so  required  being  but  the  too-willing 
tool  of  the  Inquisitor-General.  Before  the  present 
council  adjourned  one  more  measure  was  devised. 
The  prisoners  taken  this  morning  in  the  act  of  Juda- 
izing  were  consigned  for  absolute  disposal  to  the 
power  of  the  Third  Inquisitor,  Arbuez  de  Epila. 

Section  V.—The  Tartwre  of  Hope  Blasted. 

Four  weeks  had  now  passed  since  the  capture  of 
the  prisoners  and  the  meeting  of  the  Consejo  de  la 
Suprema.  Caught  in  the  very  act  of  Judaizing, 
the  imprisoned  people  were  ipso  factum  guilty  of 
heresy,  punishable  by  death  in  being  burned  at  the 
stake  at  the  next  ensuing  auto  da  fe.  Considera- 
tions of  great  importance  made  it  necessary  to  act 
with  the  greatest  caution  in  the  treatment  of  these 
convicts.  I  had  been  enjoined  to  the  utmost  by  the 
Inquisitor-General  to  use  every  possible  means,  kind 
or  harsh,  for  inducing  the  backsliders  to  betray  such 
confederates  and  associates  as  were  guilty  of  similar 


300  BEN  BEOR. 

offences.  Especially  was  this  aimed  at  the  vener- 
able and  highly  influential  Bishop  of  Seville,  Don 
Juan  Arias  Davilla.  Of  Portuguese  Hebrew  an- 
cestors, this  high  dignitary  of  the  church  had  risen 
to  the  eminent  position  which  he  held  by  personal 
worth,  profound  learning  and  influential  connections 
at  the  court  of  Madrid.  He  was  an  eye-sore  and 
obstacle  to  Torquemada.  Every  means  of  his  craft 
were  employed  to  encompass  the  downfall  of  this 
enemy.  And  here  was  now  a  near  relative  and 
trusted  friend  of  our  foe  in  the  meshes  of  our  power, 
who  perhaps  might  be  persuaded,  either  by  the 
blandishments  of  hope  for  pardon  or  the  excruciating 
pains  of  torture,  to  implicate  him  of  Seville,  and 
maybe  other  high  recreants,  of  being  guilty  of  prac- 
tising in  secret  Israelitish  rites  and  ceremonies; 
in  other  words,  the  mortal  offence  of  Judaizing, 
the  worst  kind  of  heresy  known  to  the  law.  Thus 
far,  I  had,  however,  ignominiously  failed.  Neither 
the  men  nor  the  women,  spite  of  the  most  insinuating 
conditions  offered,  spite  of  the  most  horrible  punish- 
ments inflicted,  would  depart  from  their  heroically 
stolid  exclamation,  "  We  know  nothing ! "  All  but 
the  old  rabbi-priest  lay  now  in  the  throes  of  fearful 
agony.  I  had  them  tortured  this  day  for  the  third 
time,  to  press  out  of  them,  by  the  so-called  "  pre- 
alable,"  the  revelation  of  their  accomplices. 

When  brought  to  the  operating-room,  there  was 
no  other  light  in  the  pestiferous  dungeon-cell  but 
what  was  shed  by  a  few  tallow  candles.  The  walls, 
as  in  all  these  infernal  places,  were  lined  with  a  kind 
of  black-colored  quilting,  which  covers  all  crevices, 
so  that  the  cries  of  the  sufferers  should  not  be  heard 
outside.  Not  the  least  consideration  was  shown 
to  the  females  in  the  proceedings  which  now  fol- 
lowed. They  were  treated  with  as  much  severity  as 
their  male  companions  in  misery,  with  the  additional 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  301 

mortification  of  having  the  most  shocking  indecen- 
cies added  to  their  pitiful  lot.  As  soon  as  brought 
in,  the  executioner  fastened  iron  chains  around  their 
bodies,  which,  crossing  upon  the  stomach,  terminated 
at  the  wrist.  Thus  manacled,  they  forced  the  back 
of  each  unfortunate  against  a  thick  board ;  at  the 
extremity  of  this  was  a  pulley,  through  which  ran  a 
rope  catching  the  ends  of  the  chains  at  the  wrists. 
Stretching  the  ropes  by  means  of  a  roller  placed  at 
a  distance,  the  most  excruciating  pressure  was  ex- 
erted in  proportion  as  the  ends  of  the  chains  were 
drawn  tighter.  By  this  process  the  joints  of  the 
hands,  arms  and  shoulders  were  soon  dislocated. 
Blood  spurted  from  the  mouth,  nostrils,  and,  in  fact, 
every  pore  of  the  body.  Amidst  all  this  horror  no 
other  words  escaped  the  sufferers  but  now  and  then 
a  faint  supplication  to  heaven  for  patience,  for  help, 
for  power  to  persevere  in  truth"  and  in  integrity. 
The  women  had  to  be  carried,  the  men  led  back  to 
their  dungeons. 

Their  forms  and  appearances  were  utterly  unrec- 
ognizable. Especially  was  a  shocking  change  visi- 
ble in  the  bride  of  but  a  month  ago.  Her  bright, 
rosy  countenance  was  transformed  into  a  sallow, 
bloodless  pale  ;  the  brilliancy  of  the  eyes  was  extin- 
guished to  a  listless  stare  ;  the  plump  outlines  of  her 
graceful  figure  had  disappeared,  and  she  looked  more 
like  a  decrepit  old  dame  than  a  young  female.  Cor- 
respondingly conspicuous  was  the  change  of  the 
others.  On  to-morrow  they  were  to  be  relieved  of 
their  earthly  troubles.  It  was  appointed  as  one  of 
the  fete-days  of  an  auto  da  fe.  One  final  effort  I 
purposed,  however,  to  make  that  very  evening  with 
the  very  obstinate  Petros  Davilla.  (The  following 
incident,  with  only  the  change  of  name,  is  taken 
from  the  French  of  Villiers  d'Jsle.) 

"  Toward  nightfall  J,  followed  by  a  friar  and  pre- 


302  BEN  BEOR. 

ceded  by  two  familiars  carrying  torches,  descended 
to  one  of  the  lower  dungeons.  The  lock  of  a  mas- 
sive door  was  turned,  and  we  entered  a  foul-smell- 
ing "inpace,"  where  by  the  dim  light  could  be  dis- 
cerned, between  two  iron  rings  fastened  into  the  wall, 
a  bench  stained  with  blood,  a  brazier  and  a  pitcher. 
On  a  litter  of  dirty  straw  crouched  a  haggard-look- 
ing man,  whose  clothes  hung  in  rags.  He  had  a 
band  of  iron  around  his  neck,  connected  by  a  heavy 
chain  to  another  ring  in  the  wall  just  above  his  head. 
His  age  was  indistinguishable.  I  addressed  the 
prisoner,  with  the  following  words,  dissembling 
deep  sorrow,  the  false  tears  actually  coming  to  my 
eyes:  "My  son,  rejoice;  your  trials  on  this  earth 
are  soon  to  come  to  an  end !  Through  your  hard- 
ness of  heart  I  have  been  under  the  painful  necessity 
of  inflicting  the  most  agonizing  torture;  my  duty  of 
fraternal  correction  has  its  limits.  You  are  the 
barren  fig-tree  which  must  no  longer  cumber  the 
ground;  but  it  is  for  the  Almighty  alone  to  dispose 
of  your  soul.  Possibly  His  infinite  love  may  shed 
its  rays  upon  you  at  the  last  moment.  Let  us  hope 
so.  I  have  known  instances  of  it.  So  be  it.  Rest 
in  peace  this  evening.  To-morrow  you  will  take 
part  in  the  auto  da  fe  ;  that  is,  you  will  be  exposed 
quemadero,  a  premonitory  for  the  eternal  flame.  It 
burns  the  victim,  I  need  not  tell  you,  from  a  dis- 
tance, and  death  will  not  come  to  you  in  less  than 
two  hours — perhaps  three  ;  it  is  slow  because  of  the 
wet  cloths  that  are  placed  over  the  brow  and  heart. 
There  will  be  only  forty-three  of  you.  Be  thankful 
that,  as  you  will  be  in  the  last  row,  you  will  have 
plenty  of  time  to  invoke  God  and  offer  up  your 
prayers  in  this  baptism  of  fire.  Put  your  trust  in 
the  light,  and  sleep/'  I  made  a  sign  to  my  attendants 
to  unrivet  the  captive's  fetters  and  embraced  him 
tenderly.  Then  it  was  the  Father  Redemptor's  turn. 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  303 

He,  in  a  low  voice,  asked  pardon  of  the  doomed  man 
for  all  that  he  had  made  him  suffer — for  the  redemp- 
tion of  the  soul.  Then  the  two  familiars  kissed  him 
in  silence.  This  ceremony  over,  the  captive  was 
left  alone  in  the  darkness.  Don  Petros  sat  helpless, 
staring  at  the  closed  door — closed,  that  word 
aroused  one  distinct  idea  in  the  midst  of  his  con- 
fusion of  mind.  It  was  that  he  had  seen,  for  one 
instant,  the  glimmer  from  the  lantern  between  the 
door  and  the  wall.  A  hope — a  hope  evidently  due 
to  the  tension  of  his  brain — rolls  within  him.  He 
dragged  himself  to  the  door,  and  cautiously  running 
his  fingers  between  the  fissure,  pulled  the  door  to- 
ward him.  Oh  !  extraordinary  good  fortune !  The 
jailer  had  turned  the  key  before  the  door  was  com- 
pletely shut. 

The  rabbi-priest  ventured  to  look  outside.  His 
eyes,  used  to  the  darkness,  had  no  difficulty  in  dis- 
tinguishing a  semi-circular  space,  inclosed  by  earthen 
walls,  and  several  staircases  leading  to  the  upper 
floor.  At  the  end  of  it,  straight  in  front  of  him, 
were  some  steps  leading  to  a  back  porch,  opening  on 
what  seemed  a  corridor,  of  which  he  could  see  only 
a  few  arches.  He  crawled  on  hands  and  knees  to 
this  porch.  Yes,  it  was  a  corridor,  but  an  intermin- 
ably long  one.  It  was  but  dimly  lighted ;  small 
oil-lamps  were  hung  at  long  intervals  to  the  beams 
and  only  served  to  make  the  darkness  visible.  The 
end  of  the  corridor  was  lost  in  a  gloom.  There  was 
not  a  door  in  the  length  of  the  wall.  On  the  left 
was  a  small,  closely-barred  window,  which  now  let 
in  a  few  rays  of  reddish  light  from  above — so  he 
judged  it  must  be  evening.  And  what  an  unearthly 
silence  reigned  in  that  place !  However,  down  at  the 
end  and  hidden  in  the  darkness  might  be  a  door 
leading  to  liberty.  It  was  his  last  hope ;  so,  keeping 
under  the  shadow  on  his  left,  he  crept  slowly,  on 


304  BEN   BEOR. 

hands  and  feet,  at  full  length,  courageously  sup- 
pressing a  groan  whenever  he  struck  one  of  the 
wounds  with  which  his  body  was  covered. 

Suddenly  a  sandaled  footstep  echoes  through  the 
length  of  the  stone  corridor.  He  is  seized  with 
terror,  his  sight  fails  him,  and  he  waits  half  dead 
with  apprehension  lest  he  should  be  discovered.  It 
is  a  familiar,  hurrying  to  some  dungeon.  A  cowl 
conceals  his  countenance,  and  he  passes  rapidly, 
with  a  pair  of  flesh-nippers  in  his  hand.  The 
fugitive  is  so  terrified  that,  weakened  as  he  is 
with  pain  and  hunger,  nearly  an  hour  passes  before 
he  has  strength  to  move.  The  dread  of  having  to 
undergo  additional  torture  in  case  of  being  discov- 
ered makes  him  for  a  moment  think  of  turning  back, 
but  hope  whispers  to  his  soul  —  that  divine  gift 
which  perhaps  comforts  us  in  our  worst  afflictions. 
A  miracle  had  been  performed  for  his  rescue.  He 
must  not  doubt  it;  so  he  went  on,  though  exhausted 
by  hunger  and  fear,  toward  possible  escape.  This 
sepulchral  passage  seems  to  lengthen  mysteriously, 
but  he  keeps  his  eyes  fixed  on  the  darkness  beyond, 
where  surely  there  must  be  some  exit.  Again  foot- 
steps are  heard,  but  heavier  and  slower.  The 
black  and  white  gowns  and  shovel-hats  of  two 
inquisitors  emerge  from  the  darkness.  They  are 
talking  in  low  tones  and  gesticulating,  as  if  they 
were  in  argument  upon  some  important  subject.  On 
seeing  them,  Father  Petros  shuts  his  eyes,  his  heart 
beats  as  if  it  would  break,  and  a  cold  sweat  of  agony 
bursts  out  on  him ;  he  lies  as  if  dead  just  under  the 
light  of  a  lamp,  invoking  the  God  of  David  to  his 
aid. 

The  two  inquisitors  stop  under  the  lamp  in  the 
heat  of  their  discussion.  One  of  them,  wh.o  is  list- 
ening to  his  companion's  argument,  keeps  his  eyes 
fixed  on  the  priest,  and  he,  not  remarking  the  absent 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  305 

look  in  those  staring  orbs,  seems  already  to  feel  the 
red-hot  pincers  tearing  his  flesh.  But  the  eyes 
of  the  inquisitors  are  those  of  men  completely 
absorbed  in  the  conversation  and  studying  answers 
to  a  companion's  query.  In  fact,  in  a  few  minutes 
the  two  sinister  individuals  continue  on  their  way 
slowly,  and  still  conversing  in  low  tones,  toward 
the  semi-circular  court  through  which  the  fugitive 
had  passed.  He  has  not  been  seen!  It  was  so 
extraordinary  an  escape  that  the  poor  wretch,  in  the 
confusion  of  the  mind,  says  to  himself,  "Am  I 
already  dead,  that  no  one  sees  me  ?  " 

He  must  hurry  to  the  place  where  he  hopes  for 
the  deliverance,  toward  the  shadowy  place  which 
is  now  only  about  thirty  paces  distant.  So  he 
crawls  out  further  and  soon  comes  to  the  dark  part 
of  this  gruesome  corridor.  He  feels  a  draft  of  cold 
air  on  his  hands;  it  comes  from  under  the  door.  O 
God,  if  this  door  only  opens  on  the  outer  world ! 
He  is  giddy  with  hope  and  fear.  He  feels,  but  can 
discover  no  bolts  or  lock — simply  a  latch.  He  rises 
to  his  feet,  presses  the  latch,  which  yields  silently, 
and  the  door  stands  open  before  him. 

"Hallelujah! "  sighs  he,  in  a  transport  of  thank- 
fulness at  the  sight  that  greets  his  eyes.  The  door 
has  opened  on  a  garden,  under  a  sky  bright  with 
stars,  on  liberty  and  life.  It  looks  upon  the  sur- 
rounding country.  Toward  the  sierra  in  that  direc- 
tion is  safety.  Oh!  he  will  fly!  he  will  run  all 
night  under  the  cover  of  citron  woods,  the  perfume  of 
which  regales  his  nostrils  even  from  this  spot.  Once 
in  the  mountains  he  will  be  safe.  He  is  breathing 
God's  pure  air ;  the  winds  refreshing  him,  his  lungs 
grow  stronger ;  he  seems  to  hear  the  words  addressed 
to  Lazarus,  and  to  bless  the  God  who  has  been  so 
infinitely  merciful  to  him  he  stretches  forth  his  arms 
and  raises  his  eyes  to  the  firmament.  Then  he 


306  BEN  BEOR. 

thinks  he  sees  the  shadow  of  arms  descend  upon 
himself — he  seems  to  feel  these  shadowy  arms 
clasp  around  him — he  is  enfolded  in  a  tender  em- 
brace. A  tall  figure  stands  near  him.  He  lowers 
his  eyes  and  they  become  fixed  on  the  person  before 
him  in  horror  and  despair.  It  is  I,  Ben  Beor ! 

He  is  in  my  arms!  I  look  at  him  with  com- 
passionate mien  as  a  shepherd  would  at  a  lost  sheep. 
I  press  him  to  my  heart  with  such  apparent  ferv- 
ent charity  that  the  sharp  points  of  his  hair  shirt 
press  into  my  flesh.  He  nearly  faints  with  grief. 
Then  I  speak  to  him,  concentrating  all  the  unctuous 
tenderness  my  voice  is  capable  of,  and  say,  "Dear 
Brother  Petros,  did  you  wish  to  leave  us  on  the  eve 
of  possible  salvation?  Unburden  thy  rebellious 
heart  to  me  and  confess,  brother,  confess ;  tell  me 
now  of  the  sins  and  recantations  of  friends  and  rela- 
tives, and,  by  the  honor  of  Him  crucified,  thy  own 
misdeeds  shall  be  considered  atoned,  and  we  will 
bestow  such  marks  of  distinction  upon  thee  as  to 
obliterate  every  suffering,  every  danger  now  threat- 
ening liberty  and  life." 

In  my  over-wrought  excitement  and  over-strained 
enthusiasm  I  did  not  notice  that  the  emaciated  form 
held  in  my  arms  had  grown  lax  and  limp,  and  that 
on  the  first  relaxation  of  my  embrace,  which  sup- 
ported him  upright,  he  fell  heavily  to  the  ground. 
Father  Petros  Davilla  was  dead — blasted  hope  had 
killed  him." 

Section  VI. — A  Grand  Auto  da  Fe. 

The  next  day  was  appointed  as  a  grand  act  of  the 
faith — the  auto  da  fe. 

The  officers  of  the  Inquisition,  precisely  at  noon, 
amidst  the  tolling  of  the  church-bells  of  Segovia,  and 
preceded  by  the  kettle-drums,  trumpets  and  banners, 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  307 

marched  in  procession  to  the  Quemadero.  This  was 
the  large  quadrangular  space  especially  set  apart  and 
arranged  for  our  purpose.  The  three  sides  were 
surrounded  by  a  prodigious  number  of  people, 
dressed  in  holiday  garb,  as  splendid  as  their 
respective  circumstances  would  allow.  Double  rows 
of  chairs  prevented  them  from  encroaching  on  the 
square  assigned  for  the  horrid  performance.  In  the 
centre  of  these  was  raised  a  high  scaffold,  assigned 
for  the  criminals  of  both  sexes,  brought  from  all 
parts  of  the  kingdom.  The  whole  court  of  Spain 
had  come  purposely  to  be  present  at  this  occasion. 
The  eastern  side  was  especially  arranged  for  them. 
In  the  centre  of  this  balcony  two  throne-chairs  were 
provided  for  the  king  and  queen.  The  rest  of  the 
long  space  was  assigned  for  the  ministers  of  state 
and  the  courtiers  with  their  ladies,  all  in  gala  attire. 
Above  the  thrones,  in  an  elevated  lodge,  as  to  sig- 
nify their  superiority  even  to  royalty,  sat  the  three 
Grand  Inquisitors  and  their  attendants.  They  re- 
mained seated  when,  amidst  great  acclamation  of  joy 
and  shouts  of  welcome,  Ferdinand  and  Isabella 
entered  their  quarters  and  took  their  allotted  seats. 
The  Queen  looked  very  beautiful.  Well  formed,  of 
middle  size,  with  great  dignity  and  gracefulness  of 
movement,  grave  but  sweet  in  demeanor,  her  com- 
plexion fair,  her  hair  auburn,  inclining  to  red,  her 
eyes  of  a  clear  blue  with  a  benign  expression,  there 
was  a  singular  modesty  in  her  countenance,  gracing 
as  it  does  a  wonderful  firmness  of  purpose  and  ear- 
nestness of  spirit.  The  King  is  a  fitting  match  to 
this  remarkable  woman. .  He  is  of  middle  stature, 
well  proportioned  and  active  from  athletic  exercise. 
His  carriage  is  free,  erect  and  majestic ;  he  has  a 
clear,  serene  forehead,  which  appears  more  lofty  from 
his  head  being  partly  bald ;  his  eyebrows  are  thick, 
and,  like  his  hair,  of  a  bright  chestnut  color ;  his  eyes 


308  BEN  BEOK. 

are  clear  and  animated  ;  the  complexion  is  somewhat 
ruddy  and  scorched  from  exposure  in  war;  his 
mouth  is  moderate  in  size,  well  formed  and  gracious 
in  its  expression.  Both  royal  persons  are  dressed 
in  the  grand  splendor  befitting  their  majesties. 

Presently,  as  the  signals  sound,  the  doomed  pris- 
oners are  slowly  led  in.  They  are  preceded  by  a 
large  number  of  clerical  celebrants  in  their  friar 
gowns,  a  cross  in  one  hand  and  a  lighted  wax  candle 
in  the  other.  Their  heads,  shaven  at  the  crown,  are 
bare.  From  their  girdles  hang  huge  rosaries.  Next 
two  monks  carry  upon  a  bier  the  dead  body  of 
Petros  Davilla.  Then  one  comes  bearing  a  paste- 
board figure  of  Don  Gomez  Enriquez,  who  has  not 
been  apprehended,  which  is  to  be  burned  in  effigy. 
After  him  walk  the  women  and  the  men  to  be  burned 
at  the  stake,  the  former  one  led  by  Bianca,  the  latter 
by  her  father,  the  Count  de  Suson.  They  all  are 
dressed  in  the  Benitto,  coarse,  close-fitting  garbs, 
painted  with  the  figures  of  the  devil,  skulls  and  cross 
bones;  each  one  bears  a  large  red  cross.  Their 
heads  are  crowned  with  high  pointed  paper  caps, 
also  marked  with  terrible-looking  figures.  These 
were  the  dresses  of  the  doomed.  There  were  forty- 
three  of  them  in  all ;  but  to  them  were  added  a  train 
of  fifty  Jews  and  Jewesses,  for  some  ecclesiastical 
transgression,  ten  Spaniards  indicted  for  bigamy  and 
witchcraft,  and  two  Morescoes,  for  having  practised 
the  Moslem  religion.  All  were  led  with  ropes 
around  their  necks  and  torches  on  their  shackled 
hands. 

Now  mass  began,  the  priests  coming  to  the  altar 
placed  near  the  scaffold.  When  they  had  finished 
they  seated  themselves  in  chairs  placed  for  that 
purpose. 

The  chief  Inquisitors  then  descended  from  the 
amphitheatre  where  they  had  thus  far  waited.  Each 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  309 

was  dressed  in  copes,  the  mitre  on  their  heads.  The 
General  bore  a  golden  cross ;  the  second  Grand 
Inquisitor  carried  a  large  tome  of  the  Gospel  in  his 
arms,  and  I  held  the  sacred  censers  in  my  hand. 
After  bowing  to  the  altar,  we  advanced  to  the  royal 
balcony.  The  King  and  Queen  then  arose,  as  did 
the  whole  assembly,  and  every  one  of  the  faithful 
repeated  an  oath  read  by  Torquemada,  "  To  protect 
the  Catholic  faith,  to  extirpate  the  heretics,  and  sup- 
port with  all  power  the  decrees  of  the  Inquisition/' 
Then  turning  toward  the  multitude,  I  proclaimed 
the  sentences  of  the  several  criminals.  We  now 
retired,  and  the  executioner  with  his  brutal  helpers, 
all  carrying  burning  torches,  made  their  way  to  the 
scaffold,  awaiting  the  signal  of  setting  fire  to  the 
heaps  of  fagots.  At  this  instant  a  scene  ensued 
which  baffled  description. 

Bianca,  in  her  youth  and  what  remained  of  her 
beauty,  being  now  on  the  same  side  of  the  platform 
where  the  Queen  was  seated,  ran  forward,  freeing 
herself  with  the  power  of  despair,  and,  falling  on  her 
knees,  with  most  pathetic  words  and  gestures  ad- 
dressed her  majesty,  sobbing  and  weeping,  "  Most 
gracious  Queen/'  she  cried,  "will  not  your  royal 
presence  give  me  some  hope  of  pardon  in  my  miser- 
able condition  ?  Have  regard — have  pity  for  my 
youth,  for  my  innocence  of  any  crime!  Can  you, 
will  you  see  one  of  your  sex  die  this  terrible  death  ?  " 
The  Queen  seemed  greatly  moved,  but  she  turned  her 
eyes  away,  which  bystanders  saw  were  full  of  tears, 
as  she  did  not  dare  to  speak  a  favorable  word  for 
one  who  had  been  declared  and  sentenced  as  a 
heretic.  Then  she  was  heard  to  say  these  historical 
and  memorable  words:  "Virgin  Mother  of  the 
Kedeemer,  what  misery  must  I  commit  in  thy 
name ! " 

A  general  shout  by  the  people  was  raised  and  the 


310  BEN  BEOR. 

universal  cry  came,  "  Let  the  dog's  beard  be  made ! " 
which  implied  to  singe  the  hair  of  the  doomed  men. 
This  is  now  done  by  means  of  flaming  furzes  thrust 
with  long  poles  against  their  faces.  This  is  con- 
tinued until  their  hair  and  faces  are  burned.  Fire 
is  now  set  to  the  fagots  and  the  place  soon  becomes 
a  sea  of  flame.  The  spectators  shouted  themselves 
hoarse ;  but  amidst  all  the  noise  can  be  heard  the 
prayers  and  the  songs  of  the  victims  till  nearly  to 
the  end,  when  there  is  nothing  left  but  a  heap  of 
bones  and  ashes. 

Section  VII. — A  Frustrated  Complot. 

The  enormous  activity  displayed  in  rapid  succes- 
sion by  the  suddenly  acquired  strength  of  the  Inqui- 
sition would  have  taken  possession  of  the  entire 
Hispanolian  peninsula  but  for  the  massive  oppo- 
sition which  it  found  in  the  provinces  of  Aragonia 
and  Valencia.  The  influential  and  wealthy  inhabi- 
tants, a  large  number  of  whom  were  "  New  Chris- 
tians," or  related  with  such,  had  obtained  from  times 
beyond  the  memory  of  men  a  royal  grant  that  the  prop- 
erty of  no  criminal  should  ever  be  confiscated  by  the 
State.  And  they  watched  over  this  privilege  with 
the  utmost  jealousy.  All  their  powerful  efforts  at 
Rome,  as  well  as  with  their  sovereigns,  failed 
through  the  iron  will  of  a  man  the  Junta  had  fitly 
chosen  to  represent  the  Church  and  her  newly  ac- 
quired dominion.  There  was  selected  for  this  trying 
and  dangerous  position  the  second  Grand  Inqui- 
sitor, Bishop  Pedro  Arbuez  de  Epila,  to  reside  at 
Saragossa,  the  capital  of  the  province.  In  his  early 
youth  he  had  been  a  soldier,  rising  to  the  rank  of 
captain.  In  the  field  and  among  his  comrades  no 
one  was  ever  known  for  higher  courage,  boldness 
and  gallantry  than  this  young  nobleman.  During 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  311 

a  long  spell  of  sickness,  while  infected  with  small- 
pox, he  had  visions  and  dreams  which  made  him 
a  religious  devotee.  The  marks  of  the  disease 
left  him  with  a  terrible  appearance.  On  recovery 
he  joined  the  Church,  becoming  a  Dominican  friar, 
rising  by  tireless  study  and  zealous  performance 
of  religious  duties  to  the  dignity  he  now  held. 
Knowing  himself  supported  by  both  the  ecclesias- 
tical and  civil  authorities,  he  laughed  at  the  threats 
and  remonstrances  of  the  Cortes  and  the  enemies 
of  the  sacred  innovations,  and  snatched  from  out  of 
their  teeth  two  victims  to  be  tried  for  Judaizing 
heresy.  These  were  tortured,  condemned  to  be 
burned  and  their  estates  to  be  confiscated  according 
to  the  established  rules  of  the  holy  tribunal.  Among 
the  forty-two  who  had  suffered  in  the  auto  dafe  at 
Segovia  these  two  were  of  the  number.  The  excite- 
ment at  Saragossa  at  this  outrage  against  vested 
rights  rose  to  fever  heat. 

It  was  soon  ascertained  by  trusted  informers  that 
a  determined  conspiracy  had  been  formed  whose 
first  aim  had  been  against  the  life  of  de  Epila.  Es- 
pionage had  become  from  the  very  start  one  of  the 
main  auxiliaries  of  the  new  persecution.  Granting 
absolution  and  immunity  to  all  informers,  and  mak- 
ing knowledge  of  any  guilt,  without  revealing  the 
same  to  the  respective  authorities,  tantamount  to  the 
commission  of  the  same,  the  spy  became  the  corrod- 
ing poison  infused  into  the  life-blood  of  the  nation. 
There  was  no  longer  security  from  kindred  and  rela- 
tionship— love  and  friendship,  in  the  highest  degree, 
had  ceased  to  exist.  Parents  and  children,  brothers 
and  sisters,  husbands  and  wives,  friends  and  associ- 
ates— all  became  distrustful  towards  each  other.  A 
desire  for  revenge,  a  wish  for  ruining  a  neighbor — 
malice  and  envy  needed  but  to  rap  at  night  011  the 
door  of  the  tormentor's  office,  ever  ready  to  open, 


312  BEN  BEOE. 

and  the  heinous  purpose  was  effected.  As  soon,  there- 
fore, as  information  of  personal  danger  reached  the 
bishop,  he  had  brought  forth  his  old  military  suit  of 
mail,  protecting  himself  from  head  to  foot  with  the 
steel  links  of  impenetrable  security.  Every  precau- 
tion was  taken  besides  against  surprise  and  outbreak, 
and  measures  of  the  greatest  magnitude  devised  to 
discover  the  leaders  and  members  of  the  conspirators. 

All  this,  however,  miserably  failed ;  for  when  at 
an  early  morning  the  bishop  went  forth  from  his 
residence  to  the  church  to  attend  holy  mass,  and  while 
he  lay  there  upon  his  knees  saying  the  Latin  words 
of  the  rite,  four  men,  deeply  masked  and  with  drawn 
swords,  sprang  from  one  of  the  niches  of  the  sanctu- 
ary, hewed  savage  blows  upon  him,  wounding  his 
arm  and  neck;  the  blood  spurted  high  up  to  the 
altar.  Then  the  assailants  successfully  made  their 
escape.  The  wounded  man  had  to  be  carried  to  his 
bed,  and,  in  spite  of  the  best  medical  skill  employed, 
he  died  in  great  agony  two  days  after. 

On  learning  this  news,  the  Inquisitor-General,  by 
special  messenger,  required  me  to  proceed  to  the 
scene  of  the  murder,  with  instructions  and  full 
power  to  act.  When  I  arrived  there  I  found  the 
city  a  cauldron  of  raging  indignation.  All  the  sym- 
pathy which  the  people  had  heretofore  bestowed 
upon  the  "  New  Christians/'  and  all  the  dislike  they 
had  felt  against  the  promulgation  of  the  holy  tri- 
bunal, now  vanished  in  the  unparalleled  assassi- 
nation of  one  of  the  anointed  of  the  Lord.  In 
several  places  masses  of  people  were  collected, 
roaring  for  vengeance  against  the  Marannen.  The 
slaughter  would  have  been  terrible  but  for  the 
timely  and  powerful  intercession  of  the  humane 
and  generous  archbishop  of  this  diocese,  Prince  Al- 
phonso  de  Aragon,  a  near  relative  of  the  sover- 
eigns. He  passed  through  the  streets  and  by  words 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  313 

and  assurances  restrained  the  mob  from  violence. 
He  was  very  popular  with  the  masses.  On  his  sol- 
emn promise  that  the  guilty  murderers  and  their 
confederates  should  be  visited  with  the  fullest  pun- 
ishment for  their  crime,  the  people  retired. 

The  task  assigned  to  me  was  certainly  a  difficult 
one,  and  required  the  utmost  care,  tact  and  scrutiny 
for  attaining  the  mission  on  which  I  had  arrived. 
Not  the  slightest  trace  of  the  four  masked .  assail- 
ants could  be  found.  They  had  come  and  fled  with- 
out being  recognized  by  any  one.  Nor  was  there  yet 
to  be  found  a  clue  to  the  carefully  covered  insti- 
gators and  confederates  in  the  crime.  All  I  could 
do  for  the  present  was  to  watch  and  wait,  offering 
immunities  and  a  large  reward  to  any  one  who  would 
give  information  leading  to  the  detection  of  the  bloody 
plotters.  From  my  knowledge  of  human  nature  I 
was  satisfied  that  a  conspiracy  which  must  have  had 
wide  ramifications,  would  before  long  show  some 
signs  of  its  existence  and  several  tangible  tokens  of 
one  or  the  other  of  its  hiding-places.  Nor  was  I 
mistaken  in  this. 

On  the  very  first  day  of  my  presence  here,  while 
at  vespers  in  the  cathedral,  and  while  keeping  a 
searching  eye  on  the  assembled  congregation,  I  noticed 
in  one  of  the  side  pews  near  the  altar,  from  whence  I 
could  look  directly  into  the  faces,  two  females  who 
to  all  appearances  were  mother  and  daughter.  The 
older  one  was  very  stout,  dark,  and  with  a  handsome, 
aristocratic-looking  face.  She  watched  with  great 
solicitude  over  the  young  girl  seated  by  her  side, 
whose  dark  eyes  were  riveted  upon  the  rosary. 
Several  times  I  saw,  when  she  lifted  the  long  black 
lashes,  that  tears  in  amp*le  profusion  rolled  down  her 
round  cheeks.  Her  finely  cut  and  bright  red  lips 
trembled  and  twitched  under  the  brave  effort  of  sup- 
pressing sobs.  She  was  very  youthful;  certainly 


314  BEN  BEOK. 

not  more  than  eighteen  years  old.  From  under  the 
white  veil  there  stole  out  a  mass  of  short,  blue-black 
curls  which  encircled  the  face  like  a  wreath.  The 
contour  of  her  profile  was  romanesque.  Add  to 
this  the  well-formed  shoulders  and  fully  developed 
bust,  ind  there  was  certainly  an  ideal  model  for  the 
picture  of  a  Madonna,  worthy  the  brush  of  a  Titiens 
or  his  master,  Zuccati. 

From  one  of  the  father-confessors  I  learned  that 
these  ladies  were  wife  and  daughter  of  a  somewhat 
impoverished  Valencian  nobleman,  Vidal  deUranso, 
who  had  settled  a  short  while  ago  with  his  family  at 
Saragossa.  Of  their  griefs  and  troubles  he  knew 
nothing.  Interested  as  I  was  in  them,  I  found  it 
not  very  difficult,  with  the  privilege  of  my  calling, 
high  office,  and  the  aid  of  our  confidentials,  to  find 
out  their  whereabouts,  and  then  had  them  summoned 
to  my  presence.  Nor  did  they  offer  any  obstacles 
after  the  first  introduction,  seeing  what  lively 
interest  I  took  in  their  affairs,  to  tell  me  the  follow- 
ing story  of  their  clouded  lives.  The  sum  and  sub- 
stance of  it  was  this,  as  related  by  the  siguora : — 

"Several  months  ago  there  appeared  at  their  house. 
a  mysterious  stranger,  who  repeatedly  and  secretly 
met  with  my  husband.  The  soldierlike-looking, 
young  and  handsome  man  had  brought  letters  of 
introduction  and  fine  credentials  from  important  per- 
sonages, and  soon  was  at  home  in  our  family  circle. 
His  fine,  gentlemanly  deportment,  insinuating  man- 
ners, with  an  often  far-away,  troubled  look,  spoke  of 
deep-seated  sorrow  and  disappointment,  imbuing  us 
with  that  peculiar  sympathetic  interest  so  appealing 
to  the  tender  female  heart.  He  was,  no  doubt,  a 
person  of  some  importance  fn  disguise;  never  came 
till  nightfall,  was  extremely  wary  in  the  confidential 
interviews  with  de  Uranso,  who  treated  him  with 
great  deference  and  respect.  Spite  of  my  repeated 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA,  315 

importunities  I  could  learn  nothing  of  their  secret 
objects,  but  soon  noticed  that  our  former  impecu- 
niosity  was  changed  into  much  better  circumstances, 
we  becoming  now  flush  with  money.  Our  newly 
found  friend  had  introduced  himself  as  Don  Gomez. 
While  he  never  in  any  social  intercourse  showed  the 
first  approach  to  any  affectionate  intimacy,  too  late  I 
found  out  that  my  daughter,  Senorita  Raphaello, 
inexperienced,  unsophisticated  as  she  was,  had  fallen 
violently  in  love  with  our  visitor.  You  know  such 
things  do  not  often  escape  the  watchful  eyes  of  a 
mother.  When  I  pressed  her  for  the  truth,  she,  who 
had  never  concealed  aught  from  me,  owned  up  with 
deep  blushes  and  a  flood  of  tears  to  the  state  of  her 
feelings.  She  could  not  say  that  he  had  caused  it,  or 
as  yet  had  given  the  first  sign  of  reciprocating  that 
unfortunate  passion.  I  soothed,  as  best  I  could,  her 
pitiful  excitement,  bade  her  to  be  patient  and  watch- 
ful of  herself,  not  to  betray  to  him  the  emotions 
which  lacerated  her  heart,  and  hope  for  the  best. 
Imagine  the  havoc  the  young  man  made  on  that 
very  evening  when,  casually,  during  the  conversa- 
tion, he  spoke  of  his  dearly  loved  young  wife,  from 
whom  he  was  separated  by  most  cruel  circumstances, 
unable  to  tell  how  soon  both  by  good  fortune  might 
be  reunited.  I  saw  Raphaello's  face  blanch.  She 
exerted  all  her  strength  to  keep  from  fainting.  At 
this  instant  my  husband  and  two  other  chevaliers 
entered.  We  were  bidden  to  retire  to  our  dormitory, 
as  they  had  business  of  great  importance  during  the 
night.  Nothing  could  have  been  more  welcome  to 
our  state  of  feelings  than  the  solitude  of  our  cham- 
ber. Here,  without  speaking  a  word,  the  girl  fell 
into  my  arms  and  we  wept  together  ;  she  so  violently 
that  I  was  afraid  she  would  go  into  convulsions. 
But  my  caresses  and  the  power  of  exhausted  nature 
made  her  finally  more  composed,  and  toward  morning 


316  BEN  BEOR. 

she  fell  into  a  deep,  uneasy  sleep.  I  laid  her  care- 
fully upon  the  couch,  watching  anxiously  till  the  first 
dawn  of  morning  broke  through  the  windows.  From 
my  deep  reveries,  caused  by  looking  at  the  dark  future 
of  my  poor  child,  whose  filial  affection  and  irreproach- 
able conduct  had  often  been,  in  the  most  trying 
circumstances,  my  only  solace,  I  was  aroused  by  the 
sudden  return  of  my  husband.  I  was  aware  he  had 
been  absent  all  night  with  his  visitors.  When  he 
now  entered  1  was  shocked  anew  by  his  appearance. 
He  was  begrimed  in  face  and  hands.  His  whole 
attire  was  disordered.  His  looks  were  haggard 
and  staring — actually  frightening  me.  Were  my 
troubles  never  to  end  ?  I  hastened  to  have  his  bath 
prepared  and  make  him  change  his  toilet.  We  sat 
down  alone  to  breakfast,  but  he  remained  silent  and 
preoccupied.  To  all  my  anxious  questions  of  what 
had  happened  to  disturb  him  so,  he  pleadingly 
entreated  me  to  ask  no  more.  Finally,  he  stated 
that  our  good  friend  Don  Gomez  sent  his  farewell  to 
the  ladies.  Circumstances  beyond  control  made  the 
departure  of  that  person  last  night  necessary,  so  he 
could  not  see  us  again.  My  husband  now  asked  for 
Raphaello;  she  was  to  him  an  idolized  object  of 
parental  affection.  I  told  him  the  misfortune  which 
had  happened.  He  hastened  to  her  room.  I  found 
him  holding  her  tightly  embraced  in  his  arms.  Both 
wept  bitterly.  I  fell  down  on  my  knees  and  prayed. 
All  at  once  the  girl  was  by  my  side.  With  her  soft, 
silvery  voice  she  said  : — '  Dearly  loved  ones,  let  me 
change  evil  into  good.  The  Lord,  I  see  it  clearly, 
directs  my  path.  In  His  service  I  will  spend  the 
rest  of  my  life  as  one  of  the  good  nuns  of  the  Carme- 
lite convent;  there  I  will  forget  my  misery.  A 
devout  and  charitable  life  is  the  only  fit  future  for 
one  suffering  like  me.  Help  me  in  this,  dear  parents, 
and  all  will  be  well.' 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  317 

"  She  was  interrupted  from  saying  any  more  by  a 
great  noise  and  tumult  in  the  adjoining  streets. 
From  the  incoherent  cries  and  wild  acclamations  we 
gathered  soon  the  awful  news  that  Father  de  Epila 
that  very  morning  and  while  at  mass  had  been 
assassinated. 

"During  the  now  ensuing  excitement,  the  death 
and  funeral  of  the  sainted  martyr,  we  could  take  no 
steps  for  fulfilling  the  irrevocable  will  of  our 
daughter.  But  we  appeal  now  to  you,  reverend 
father,  to  assist  her  in  taking  the  veil  and  be  ad- 
mitted as  one  of  the  holy  sisters  to  the  cloister." 

Admitting  this  to  be  the  proper  course  to  be 
taken  by  the  young  lady,  I  promised  my  best  aid 
for  attaining,  as  soon  as  possible,  her  pious  object; 
but  insisted  that  they  must,  as  soon  as  reaching 
home,  send  to  me  Don  de  Uranso. 

During  the  recital  of  the  woman's  story  I  became 
more  and  more  convinced  that  I  saw  the  tracks  to- 
ward a  great  discovery.  This  man  was  either  one 
of  the  murderers  or  one  of  the  confederates.  There 
was  no  doubt  in  my  mind  about  that  fact.  I  pre- 
pared for  his  coming,  which  occurred  within  a  short 
interval.  At  sight  of  him  I  saw  pusillanimity  and 
cowardice  written  in  his  unprepossessing  counte- 
nance. I  went  to  work  without  any  roundabout 
words.  Charging  him  with  a  guilty  knowledge  of 
the  crime  of  murderous  assault  on  the  late  Grand 
Inquisitor,  I  proceeded  to  say : — 

"  You,  as  a  good  Catholic,  must  be  aware  that  it 
is  in  my  power,  by  means  of  the  torture,  to  press 
from  you  the  confession  of  your  guilt."  I  saw  him 
shudder  under  the  influence  of  my  eyes,  fixed  star- 
ingly  upon  him.  Then  I  proceeded  : — "  Would  you 
not  prefer  my  now  proifered  kindness,  to  make  a  full 
account  of  the  truth  ?  Look  at  yonder  table.  There 
lie  twenty  thousand  ducats,  the  offered  reward  for 


318  BEN  BEOK. 

this  discovery  of  the  criminals  ;  there  is  also  a  paper, 
as  you  must  see,  containing  the  full  pardon  and  en- 
tire Church  immunity  for  the  informer  if  implicated 
in  the  affair  himself.  Lastly,  there  is  a  commission 
as  warden-general  in  our  cathedral  at  Segovia,  with 
an  annual  salary  of  five  thousand  piasters,  and  this 
for  life,  as  an  additional  reward,  if  you  place  me  in 
possession  of  all  the  details  I  shall  require.  Now 
take  your  choice." 

The  fellow  walked  to  the  table.  He  viewed  the 
heap  of  gold — a  mite  only  from  the  millions  confis- 
cated at  the  death  of  Count  Suson.  He  examined 
the  papers  carefully,  as  if  this  was  simply  a  business 
transaction.  Then,  nodding  his  vile  head  approv- 
ingly, he  returned  to  me  and  asked  : — "  What  is  it 
that  you  wish  to  know,  condition-ally  of  my  accept- 
ing the  proposal  ?  "  I  replied : — "  The  unequivocal, 
positive  answer  to  the  following  questions  : — 

"(1).  Who  and  where  are  the  four  assassins? 

"(2).  Who  and  where  are  the  members  of  the 
conspiracy  ?  " 

He  continued  to  say  : — "  Will  you  swear  to  me 
and  kiss  the  crucifix  hanging  from  your  girdle,  that 
every  promise  made  shall  be  sacredly  and  inviol- 
ably kept  if  I  answer  these  queries  ?  " 

I  rose  and  swore,  kissing  the  cross,  fully  deter- 
mined to  keep  my  promise,  if  necessary,  as  a  cheap 
price  for  the  object  to  be  attained.  I  now  seated 
myself  at  the  table  and  made  ready  to  write.  He 
dictated  : — 

"  There  were  four  assassins  : — Juan  de  Esperando, 
our  leader ;  Juan  de  Abadia,  who  committed  sui- 
cide this  very  morning ;  Don  Gomez,  a  stranger, 
who  succeeded  in  making  his  escape  into  France, 
his  whereabouts  now  unknown,  and  myself,  who, 
however,  took  no  active  part  in  the  attack.'7 

I  knew  the  fellow  lied  in  the  last  statement,  but 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  319 

did  not  care,  and  asked  : — "  And  now,  what  about 
your  confederates  ?  " 

"  I  have  a  full  list  in  writing  at  my  house.  Send 
for  servants  to  carry  the  gold  to  my  abode;  take 
yourself  the  two  papers  and  come  with  me.  We 
will  exchange  there  the  documents  and  complete  the 
bargain."  I  assented  readily  to  the  proposition, 
and  in  less  than  half  an  hour  the  conditions  of  the 
ominous  contract  were  fulfilled  on  both  sides. 

Before  night  Juan  de  Esperando  was  a  prisoner  in 
the  deepest  dungeon  of  the  cathedral.  When  taken 
captive  in  the  presence  of  his  wife  and  family,  the  exe- 
cutioner, with  his  horrible  axe,  chopped  off  the  hands 
and  feet  of  the  resistless  man.  By  chains  wound 
around  his  body,  the  alguazils  dragged  him  through 
the  streets,  amidst  the  hooting  and  shouting  of  the 
wrathy  throng  following  the  sickening  sight.  Next 
morning  he  hung  suspended  from  the  high  tower  of 
the  sacred  edifice,  strangled  to  death.  Over  two 
hundred  implicated  accomplices,  enumerated  on  the 
surrendered  list  now  in  my  possession,  were  without 
delay  apprehended,  tortured  and  sentenced  to  be 
burned  at  the  next  ensuing  auto  dafe.  More  than 
double  that  number  were  cast  into  prison  for  life. 
Among  these  were  some  of  the  highest  nobility, 
grandees,  princes  of  the  Church  and  several  women. 
The  amount  of  confiscated  estates  and  treasures  is 
beyond  computation. 

.Adnidst  all  these  havocs,  one  morning  the  solemn 
strains  of  the  cathedral  organ  sounded  grandly 
through  the  vaulted  edifice.  An  immense  concourse 
of  people  had  assembled  to  witness  one  of  the  great- 
est displays  of  the  Church.  Priests  and  acolytes 
ran  hither  and  thither— all  was  commotion  and  ex- 
pectancy. The  great  bell  rang  out  deep  tones,  when 
a  long  train  of  Carmelite  nuns  were  ushered  in. 
They  led  among  their  numbers  a  young  and  beautiful 


320  BEN  BEOR. 

maiden.  It  was  Raphaello  de  Uranso,  who  this  day 
took  the  final  vow  of  chastity,  charity  and  priestly 
sisterhood.  "  Gloria  in  excelsis  Deum  !  "  chanted  at 
last  the  powerful  choir,  and  all  was  over.  The  heart 
and  life  of  a  young  being  were  immured  forever  in 
the  gloomy  cell  of  a  nun.  While  the  pageantry  pro- 
ceeded, in  their  usual  pew  sat  the  parents.  The 
mother,  bathed  in  tears,  could  barely  hold  out 
through  the  trying  ceremonies.  The  father,  leaning 
his  head  forward,  looked  on  steadily  and  absent- 
mindedly.  His  wife  had  to  remind  him  at  last  that 
the  people  had  departed  and  that  it  was  time  to  go 
home.  Home!  it  was  such,  alas  !  no  longer.  The  joy 
and  life  which  had  hitherto  reigned  there  supreme 
by  a  loved  child  was  now  empty.  True,  accursed 
wealth  and  hateful  ease  had  lately  entered,  but  hap- 
piness had  departed.  Whatever  their  gloomy  cogi- 
tatiojis  were,  they  presently  became  aroused  by  a 
knocking  at  the  door.  There  entered  an  officer  and 
two  minions  of  the  Inquisition.  Both  husband  and 
wife  were  now  taken  into  custody.  To  all  the 
urgent  protestations  of  Uranso  that  this  must  be  a 
mistake,  that  he  had  documents  to  show  his  im- 
munity from  prosecution,  there  was  but  one  answer : — 
"  The  Inquisition  makes  no  mistakes !  There  is  no 
immunity  from  crime  !  " 

The  woman  fainted.  She  and  her  husband  were 
transported  to  the  galleys.  Their  possessions  were 
confiscated.  They  both  died  before  reaching  the 
penal  colonies.  Had  tombstones  been  erected  to 
their  memory,  well  might  the  monument  be  in- 
scribed with  the  truth: — "The  Church  never  re- 
linquishes what  was  once  her  own !  " 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  321 

Section  VIII. — The  Expulsion  of  the  Jews. 

When  the  end  of  the  year  approached  (1489),  the 
murder  of  Petro  Arbuez  de  Epila,  second  Grand 
Inquisitor  at  Saragossa,  was  fully  punished  and 
avenged.  Hecatombs  of  human  beings  and  rivers  of 
people's  blood  flowed,  to  constitute  a  warning  example 
to  the  foes  and  opponents  of  the  holy  tribunal.  The 
king  and  the  priests  united,  by  means  of  the  unsuccess- 
ful conspiracy,  to  foist  the  dreaded  Inquisition  on  all 
parts  of  the  land.  The  dead  prelate  was  declared  a 
martyr  to  the  holy  cause.  A  marble  statue  had  been 
already  erected  on  the  very  spot  where  the  assassi- 
nation took  place,  and  the  faithful  came  in  scores 
to  pray  at  the  feet  of  their  saint.  Among  the  most 
zealous  and  frequent  of  these  was  the  nun  Raphaello. 
Poor  creature!  The  cell  of  the  cloister,  with'  its 
loneliness  and  devout  routine,  had  rfot  quelled  the 
deeply  wounded  heart;  and  to  her  already  over- 
burdened mind  came  the  death  of  father  and  mother — 
natural  reasons,  and  not  the  real  ones,  being  assigned 
to  her  as  the  cause  of  that  catastrophe ;  her  brain 
becoming  disordered  and  she  changed  into  a  religious 
monomaniac.  -  In  her  wild  ecstasies  she  would  kneel 
for  hours  in  prayer  before  the  image  of  the  now 
sainted  Epila.  Here  she  had  trances  and  visions. 
One  day  when  a  crowd  of  worshippers  were  assem- 
bled, she  suddenly  sprang  to  her  feet ;  then,  with  a 
trembling  voice,  echoing  through  space,  she  ex- 
claimed, "  Behold  the  heavenly  revelation !  I  see 
the  martyr  saint  standing  before  the  throne,  between 
the  Father  and  the  Son !  I  hear  his  voice!  This  is 
what  he  proclaims,  'Know,  all  faithful  children  of 
the  Church,  judgment  day  is  nigh!  The  righteous 
will  enter  into  glory;  the  wicked  shall  perish  by 
fire  !  My  servants  of  the  holy  tribunal  shall  fulfil 
it !  Hail  to  all  who  strengthen  their  hands !  Woe 


322  BEN  BEOR. 

to  him,  in  torments  of  eternal  hell,  who  shall  oppose 
their  power ! ' ' 

Then  she  fainted  and  had  to  be  carried  away.  A 
priest  cried  out : — "  A  miracle ! "  and  the  wild  rabble 
shouted  after  him,  "  A  miracle  !  a  miracle !  Heaven 
itself  has  sat  in  judgment !  "  The  torture  and  auto 
dafe  were  proclaimed  now  from  Above  to  be  conse- 
crated. 

Raphaello,  the  Carmelite  nun,  died  that  same  day 
in  a  fit  of  crazy  exhaustion.  She,  too,  was  soon 
declared  one  of  the  beatified. 

Among  the  many  victims  who  were  hunted  down 
in  consequence  of  the  priest's  murder,  a  not  incon- 
siderable number  were  taken  from  their  refuge  places, 
with  incontestable  signs  that  they  had  received  succor 
and  protection  from  the  Jews.  This  was  so  cun- 
ningly done  that  their  guilt  could  not  be  legally 
established.  But  suspicion,  with  her  cruel  fangs  in 
these  times,  was  tantamount  to  proof.  Moreover, 
it  had  long  been  known  that  there  existed  between 
the  unconverted  Israelites  and  the  Marrannen,  sym- 
pathy and  even  fraternal  relations,  exercised  in 
greatest  secrecy.  It  is  ascribed  to  this  influence  that 
the  New  Christians  were  well  informed  in  the  religion 
of  their  ancestors,  and  knew  its  ritual  in  all  instances. 
This  they  observed  in  the  silence  of  the  night ;  they 
were  unquestionably  provided  with  the  requirements 
by  former  co-religionists.  Hebrew  books,  meat 
killed  by  the  authoiized  "Shochet,"  bread  for  pass- 
over  (Matzo),  could  be  found  among  the  baptized 
converts  regularly  and  in  due  season.  This  did  not 
cease  even  when  the  Jews  were  banished  to  the  Ghetto 
and  placed  under  strictest  surveillance  by  special 
order  of  the  throne.  Exaggerated  complaints  con- 
cerning the  treachery  laid  to  the  already  hated  out- 
casts were  made  to  the  Queen,  who  still  remained 
under  the  fanatical  influence  of  her  confessor,  Fer- 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  323 

nanclo  de  Talavera,  the  reverend  bishop  of  Avila. 
Neither  the  protestations  of  her  high  clergy  nor  the 
promptings  of  her  own  inclination  had  thus  far  re- 
sulted in  any  decisive  steps  against  my  arch  enemies. 
The  influence  which  some  of  the  magnates  of  the 
tribe  wielded  with  the  King,  as  well  as  with  the  Queen, 
had  frustrated  the  frequently  attempted  measure  of 
persecution  against  them.  In  this  it  was  especially 
Don  Isaac  Abarbanel  who  proved  the  greatest  stum- 
bling-block in  my  destructive  designs.  Implicitly 
trusted  for  sagacity  in  council,  reliability  and  shrewd- 
ness as  a  financier,  and  matchless  ability  as  a  diplo- 
mat, he  had  served  the  court  well,  enjoyed  the 
unbounded  confidence  of  the  royal  pair,  and  by  his 
amiable  character  and  profound  knowledge  he  had 
become  a  special  favorite.  Not  a  step  of  any  im- 
portance was  hitherto  taken  without  being  first  sub- 
mitted to  him  for  advice  and  approval.  Marks  of 
greatest  esteem  and  gratitude  were  showered  con- 
tinually upon  the  unpretending  and  modest  man, 
who  belonged  even  to  the  inner  family  circle  of  the 
imperial  household.  Here  the  children,  most  of  all, 
were  affectionately  attached  to  their  "Hebrew  grand- 
father/' as  they  called  him,  and  as  they  fondly  climbed 
upon  his  lap  they  always  examined  his  side-pockets, 
where  they  always  were  sure  to  find  some  goodies  or 
some  delicacies  in  store  for  them. 

Since  the  final  conquest  of  the  Moors,  the  court 
had  moved  to  New  Granada.  The  unexpected,  com- 
plete and  glorious  victory,  in  which  the  Queen  played 
so  conspicuous  and  heroic  a  part,  gave  their  royal 
majesties  at  last  possession  of  that  magnificent 
Oriental  palace,  unequalled  in  beauty,  the  Alham- 
bra.  No  European  had  ever  set  eyes  upon  such  a 
pile  of  marvellous  grandeur,  massive  strength  and 
sublime  architecture.  The  walls  of  the  extensive 
fortification  were  built  of  the  peculiar  red  porphyry 


324  BEN  BEOR. 

found  in  the  neighboring  quarries.  This  color  gave 
the  place  its  name  as  the  red  castle.  It  is  situated 
in  the  midst  of  noble  woods,  surrounded  by  splendid 
gardens  which  are  full  of  blooms  and  foliage  all  the 
year  round.  It  contains  everything  that  may  con- 
tribute sumptuously  to  the  security  and  the  gratifica- 
tion of  human  wants  and  most  refined  tastes.  Several 
regiments  of  soldiers  guarded  from  the  ramparts  and 
numerous  towers  the  stronghold.  The  place  was 
thronged  now  with  the  most  handsome  of  women  and 
the  stateliest  of  men,  who  in  the  wealth  of  color  and 
material  of  their  characteristic  national  costumes 
formed  the  grandest  spectacles  as  they  promenaded 
through  the  gorgeous  hall  of  the  Lions  or  that  of  the 
Abencerrages.  The  former  is  the  grand  apartment 
of  the  palace.  It  has  its  name  from  the  splendid 
fountain  supported  by  a  master-group  of  lions ;  it 
is  constructed  entirely  of  marble  and  alabaster,  and 
ornamented  with  the  most  delicate  fretwork  and 
arabesques.  The  hall  of  the  Abencerrages  is  still  more 
remarkable  for  its  grandeur  and  elaborate  wealth. 
The  ceilings  are  of  cedar-wood  inlaid  with  mother 
of  pearl,  ivory  and  silver,  and  the  walls  are  stuccoed 
and  frescoed  with  the  most  elegant  and  intricate 
designs.  An  endless  multitude  had  followed  hither  in 
the  train  of  the  King  and  the  Queen.  Notable  among 
these  were  seen  going  to  and  fro,  Abarbanel,  the 
Bishop  of  Avila,  and  Torquemada.  I  had  been  sum- 
moned, also,  to  come  and  assist  in  the  great  scheme 
now  concocting,  and  had  arrived  lately.  Quickly 
observing  what  was  going  on,  I  noticed  that  the  old 
Hebrew  frequently  bought  some  choice  fruits  at  one 
of  the  stalls  lining  the  portals  of  the  fort,  and  was,  on 
inquiry,  informed  that  these  were  the  gifts  with  which 
he  generally  regaled  the  royal  children.  After  due 
consultation  with  my  approving  confreres,  I  bribed 
the  vendor,  an  old  Spanish  woman,  to  assist  in  the 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  325 

trick  for  the  plot  which  I  had  concocted.  There 
had  arrived  for  her  a  most  tempting  basket  of  oranges 
which  certainly  would  attract  the  attention  of  her 
old  customer.  In  one  of  the  golden-looking  fruit 
I  placed,  skilfully  hidden  inside,  a  little  image  of 
the  crucified  Christ.  My  design  proved  successful. 
This  orange  came  on  the  self-same  morning  in  posses- 
sion of  the  young  Crown  Prince,  at  the  hands  of 
Abarbanel.  The  child  on  opening  the  fruit  found 
the  figure,  and  ran  with  it  to  his  mother.  She 
blanched  and  trembled  at  the  sight  of  it,  but  spoke 
no  word  and  appeared  as  if  she  took  no  notice  of  the 
incident.  She  placed  the  crucifix  in  her  bosom  and 
sent  the  child  away.  Soon,  however,  she  dismissed, 
apparently  as  affable  as  usual,  him  who  had  still  held 
audience  thus  far  with  her  as  confidential  minister, 
the  Jew.  Had  he  seen  the  wicked  glances  of  her 
eyes  as  they  followed  him  he  would  have  known 
the  ominous  storm  which  was  brewing  for  him  and 
his  hapless  people.  They  and  their  high  protector 
had  already  become  burdensome  to  the  court.  The 
war  was  over  and  the  court  council  no  longer 
needed  him.  The  royal  treasury,  now  gorged  to 
repletion  with  the  spoils  from  the  conquered  Moors 
and  the  confiscation  of  the  treasures  of  the  Marran- 
nen,  had  no  use  for  an  able  financier.  Incessant  and 
loud  had  been  the  clamors  of  the  hierarchy  against  the 
Jews.  All  neighboring  countries  had  expelled  them, 
and  Spain,  the  most  Catholic,  should  no  longer 
harbor  those  infidels  and  heretics.  They  were  con- 
tinually in  league  with  the  vacillating  New  Chris- 
tians, drawing  them  back  to  the  religion  of  their 
fathers,  and  even  corrupting  the  faithful  with  their 
money  and  example.  The  sovereigns  had  long 
hesitated  and  resisted  the  priestly  demands.  But 
now  the  Queen,  in  her  outraged,  pious  feeling  of 
having  such  gross  sacrilege  committed  before  her 


326  BEN  BEOR. 

eyes  in  the  very  bosom  of  her  family,  sent  for  the 
King  and  the  three  Grand  Inquisitors.    The  tears  of 
the  Queen,  as  she  related  the  outrage,  and  the  specific 
vehemence  of  Torquemada,  which  was  overpowering 
on  this  occasion,  settled  the  matter.     Instantly  the 
decree  of  the  expulsion  of  the  Jews  from  all  their 
majesties'  realms  was  signed  and  sealed.    It  had  been 
prepared   long  ago   by  Bishop  Talavera.     Special 
heralds  were  dispatched  to  officially  proclaim  the 
edict.     Their  trumpets  and  voices  startled  first  the 
inhabitants  of  Grenada.     Here  a  large  number  of 
wealthy  and  influential   Israelites  resided.     These 
were  struck  with  consternation  and  dismay.     They 
congregated  forthwith  in   their  ancient  synagogue, 
one  of  the  oldest  of  the  Occident.    They  wept,  they 
prayed  to  the  God  of  their  fathers  and  threw  themselves, 
in  their  despair,  prostrate  to  the  ground.    When  now 
Abarbanel  entered,  all  eyes  were  upon  him.     He 
was  their  only  hope.     Counselling  resignation  and 
patience,  he  sent  from  their  midst  to  all  the  courtiers 
and  grandees  who  thus  far  had  been  his  friends. 
He  asked  the  immediate  attendance  of  all  these  at 
the  court,  to  be  present  during  an  audience  which 
would  be  solicited  by  him  from  the  sovereigns.    And 
those  so  invited  hastened  to  the  palace.     The  audi- 
ence was  granted.     Kneeling  before  the  throne  of 
their  majesties,  with  broken  voice  interrupted  by  his 
sobs,  and  with  a  flood  of  tears  bathing  his  venerable 
face,  he  pleaded  for  his  people  and  entreated  the 
revocation  of  that  terrible  mandate.   The  King  showed 
signs  of  a  favorable  consideration  by  the  fabulous 
sums  of  money  offered.    The  Queen  was  visiblymoved 
by  the  pathetic  and  stirring  appeal.   Both  consulted  in 
whispers  together,  their  countenances  showing  that 
strong  feelings  were  agitating  their  minds  to  grant  the 
request. 

At  this  instant  Torquemada  entered  the  audience 


HISTORICAL,  PHANTASMAGORIA.  327 

chamber  and  pushed  forward  through  the  crowd  until 
he  stood  right  before  the  throne.  In  his  right  hand 
he  held  a  large  ivory  cross.  Approaching  as  near 
as  he  could,  he  violently  threw  the  crucifix  at  the 
feet  of  the  sovereigns,  and  with  his  sharp,  shrill 
voice  raised  almost  to  a  screech,  he  exclaimed: 
" Judas  sold  Christ  for  thirty  pieces  of  silver;  do 
you  now  sell  your  Master  for  three  hundred  thousand 
ducats  of  these  Jews  ?  " 

It  was  an  awful  moment.  The  Inquisitor-General 
stalked  with  haughty  mien  and  proud  bearing  back, 
passing  through  the  portals  whence  he  had  entered. 
After  an  oppressive  silence,  the  cowed  King  took  the 
almost  fainting  Queen  by  the  hand.  They  descended 
from  the  throne.  The  audience  was  broken  up.  The 
terrible  edict  remained  in  force. 

Torquemada  and  the  Inquisition  had  prevailed. 
On  the  third  of  August,  1492,  three  hundred  thous- 
and people,  men,  women  and  children,  with  what 
little  portable  property  remained  for  them  from  their 
despoilers,  left  Spain,  the  land  which  they  so  im- 
measurably loved,  where  were  the  graves  of  their 
ancestors  since  a  thousand  years,  where  they  had 
been  born,  suffered  and  labored.  It  was  again 
the  calamitous  day  of  their  national  misfortunes,  the 
ninth  of  the  fifth  lunar  month  "Av,"  when  these 
people  had  to  take  the  staff  of  the  exile  and  the  out- 
cast. Twice  had  been  the  Temple  of  Jerusalem  laid 
in  ashes,  and  over  and  over  again  had  the  most 
awful  evils  overtaken  them  on  that  self-same  day  of 
lamentation  and  tears.  It  must  be  recorded  here  to 
their  everlasting  credit  that  they  did  not  selfishly 
abandon  one  another.  The  rich,  now  reduced  to 
poverty,  shared  what  little  there  remained  for  them 
with  their  needy  brethren.  And  although  citizen- 
ship, honor  and  restored  wealth  were  held  out  to  all 
who  would  abjure  their  religion  and  submit  to  bap- 


328  BEN  BEOR. 

tism,  not  one  of  all  those  so  cruelly  tried,  turned  traitor 
by  joining  the  Church.  It  was  heartrending  to  see 
whole  congregations,  a  few  days  before  their  depart- 
ure, pass  the  time  in  the  cemeteries  and  mingle  their 
tears  with  the  dust  where  their  fathers  slept  in  death. 
Many  persons  tore  out  the  gravestones  and  actually 
carried  them  along  into  their  banishment.  Monu- 
ments too  heavy  to  be  thus  transported  were  pre- 
sented to  the  Marrannen  under  promise  of  careful 
preservation.  When  at  last  the  hour  struck  for  the 
departure,  the  rabbins  headed  the  trains.  Drums 
and  fifes  preceded  the  weeping  procession  to  encour- 
age those  who  would  have  sunk  by  the  roadside  in 
despair.  Such  a  spectacle  the  world  never  had  seen 
before  and  perhaps  will  witness  nevermore.  The 
pestilence  stalked  ahead  of  the  expatriated  and  soon 
destroyed  them  by  the  thousands.  Spain's  degener- 
ation and  national  decay  they  left  behind. 

Section  IX. — The  Dawn  of  the  Light  Afar. 

Columbus  at  last  prevailed.  In  the  hour  when 
he  thought  himself  abandoned  by  men  and  even 
God,  at  the  very  depth  of  his  misery,  the  crisis  in 
his  fate  came.  Giving  up  all  hopes  of  receiving 
countenance  from  the  throne  of  Spain,  after  waiting 
till  his  heart  grew  sick,  lie  started  for  a  new  effort, 
and  went  for  this  purpose  on  his  way,  bound  for  the 
court  of  France.  Firmly  resolved  now  to  cast  his 
future  fortune  with  the  powerful  and  magnanimous 
Charles  VIIL,  who,  just  victorious  over  all  his 
enemies,  entered  in  triumph  his  capital,  Paris,  the 
disappointed  Genoese  sea-captain  had  made  final 
disposition  of  his  affairs  in  Spain  and  proceeded  on 
his  problematical  errand.  His  financial  means  were 
almost  exhausted.  What  little  there  remained  he 
left  with  his  beloved  Beatrice,  whom  he  placed  for 


•  HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  329 

protection  in  the  care  of  his  eldest  son  by  his  first 
wife,  Diego  Columbus,  and  well-tried  friend  Louis 
de  Torres.  Proceeding  on  foot  with  his  four-year- 
old  son  Ferdinando,  born  to  him  by  his  mistress ; 
carrying  the  child  mostly  on  his  back,  he  was  on  his 
way  to  his  brother-in-law,  Pedro  Correo,  who  lived 
now  in  the  town  of  Huelva,  and  who  had  generously 
oifered  to  take  care  of  the  boy.  All  day  the  father 
had  tramped  on  that  very  road.  His  money  had 
given  out  entirely  that  morning,  and,  nearly  famished, 
he  reached  at  nightfall  the  ancient  convent  of  La 
Rabida,  belonging  to  the  Franciscan  friars.  He 
stopped  at  the  gate  and  asked  one  of  the  friars 
for  a  little  bread  and  water  for  himself  and  his  little, 
hungry  child.  While  receiving  this  humble  refresh- 
ment, the  prior  of  the  cloister,  Father  de  Marchena, 
happened  to  pass  by,  and  was  struck  with  the  distin- 

fiished  appearance  of  the  stranger.  Observing 
om  his  air  and  accent  that  he  was  a  foreigner,  he 
entered  into  conversation  with  the  traveller  and  soon 
learned  the  particulars  of  his  story.  The  prior  was 
a  man  of  extensive  information.  He  had  consider- 
able knowledge  of  geographical  and  nautical  science. 
He  was  greatly  interested  by  the  conversation  of 
this  dust-begrimed  guest  and  struck  with  the  gran- 
deur of  his  views.  It  was^a  remarkable  occurrence 
in  the  monotonous  life  of  the  convent  to  have  a  man 
of  such  singular  character,  intent  on  so  extraordinary 
an  enterprise,  applying  here  for  bread  and  water. 

When  he  found,  however,  that  the  voyager  was 
on  the  point  of  abandoning  Spain  to  seek  patronage 
at  the  court  of  France,  and  that  so  important  an 
enterprise  was  about  to  be  lost  forever  to  Spain,  the 
patriotism  of  the  good  friar  took  alarm.  He  detained 
Columbus  as  his  guest,  and,  diffident  of  his  own 
judgment,  sent  for  a  learned  friend.  It  was  the 'cele- 
brated Garcia  Fernandez,  a  physician  of  the  neigh- 


330  BEN  BEOR. 

boring  city,  Palos,  who  was  summoned  hither. 
Fernandez  was  equally  enchanted  with  the  appearance 
and  conversation  of  the  stranger.  Several  consulta- 
tions took  place,  to  which  a  number  of  well-experi- 
enced sailors  from  the  neighborhood  were  invited  to 
be  present.  Among  these  was  an  important  person- 
age, the  wealthy  and  widely  known  mariner,  Martin 
Alonzo  Pinzon.  The  project  demonstrated  by  the 
poor  wayfarer  was  treated  here  with  a  deference 
which  had  been  sought  in  vain  among  the  sages  and 
philosophers  of  the  court.  Pinzon  especially  became 
so  enthusiastic,  fully  convinced  by  the  lucid  and 
feasible  plans,  that  he  offered  to  engage  in  them  with 
purse  and  person,  ready  to  bear  the  expenses  for  a 
renewed  application  to  the  court. 

Prior  Perez  was  confirmed  in  his  faith  by  the  con- 
currence of  those  learned  and  practical  counsellors. 
He  once  had  been  confessor  to  the  Queen  and  knew 
that  she  was  always  accessible  to  persons  of  his  holy 
calling.  But  first  he  selected  a  trusty  messenger  in 
the  person  of  one  Sebastian  Rodriguez,  whom  he 
sent  with  an  urgent  and  explanatory  letter  to  the 
royal  camp.  Isabella  was  favorably  impressed  with 
the  writing,  and  replied  that  she  thanked  her  old 
friend  for  the  great  service  rendered,  requesting  that 
the  old  confessor  should .  immediately  repair  to  the 
court,  and  that  Columbus  should  rest  in  confident 
hope,  as  he  should  hear  from  her.  There  was  great 
joy  in  the  little  junta  at  the  convent.  The  warm- 
hearted friar,  after  a  little  preparation,  had  his  mule 
saddled  and  departed  before  midnight  on  his  mis- 
sion. On  arriving,  he  was  met  by  the  Inquisitor- 
General  and  myself,  the  third  Grand  Inquisitor. 
De  Talavera,  who  had  in  the  interim  been  appointed 
in  the  place  of  the  dead  second  Grand  Inquisitor, 
would,  however,  have  nothing  to  do  with  the  dis- 
coverer's schemes,  as  he  was  utterly  opposed  from 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  331 

religious  and  scientific  prejudices  to  Columbus,  and 
therefore  hud  systematically  abstained  from  making 
any  report  concerning  the  labors  of  the  learned  con- 
clave held  under  his  presidency  at  Salamanca,  now 
over  a  year  ago.  By  our  intercession,  in  connection 
with  his  priestly  standing,  Father  Perez  gained 
ready  entrance  to  a  court  distinguished  for  religious 
zeal,  and  soon  was  in  the  presence  of  the  Queen, 
and  permitted,  by  the  sacred  relations  he  held  to  her, 
great  freedom  of  counsel.  The  results  of  the  meet- 
ing were  favorable.  Columbus  was  recalled  to  the 
palace, — and  after  many  difficult  negotiations,  the 
Queen  from  her  own  treasures,  a  large  share  of 
which  had  come  from  the  confiscations  of  the  Mar- 
rannen  and  Jews,  agreed  to  furnish  the  necessary 
ships  and  equipments  for  the  so  long-cherished  jour- 
ney of  discovery  in  the  West. 

At  last,  after  endless  difficulties  and  troubles  in 
procuring  them,  three  small  vessels,  the  Pinta,  Santa 
Maria  and  the  Nina,  lifted  anchor  in  the  harbor  of 
Palos  on  the  3d  of  August,  1492.  What  proud  satis- 
faction the  commander-in-chief  of  this  little  flotilla 
must  have  felt  as  he  stood  on  his  flagship,  the  Santa 
Maria,  conqueror  of  all  the  difficulties  which  had 
been  thrown  in  his  way,  now  ready  to  proceed  to  sea ! 
He  had  been  joined  by  his  life-long  friend,  the  Jew 
Louis  de  Torres,  who  brought  him  an  affectionate 
farewell  of  beloved  Beatrice  and  prayerful  messages 
from  both  his  sons.  As  he  stood  there  at  the  helm, 
Alonzo  Pinzon,  captain  of  the  Nina,  by  his  side, 
and  surrounded  by  the  officers,  pilots  and  sailors,  a 
large  concourse  of  peasants  and  mariners  had 
gathered  on  shore.  Prior  Juan  Perez  and  a  number 
of  clergymen,  myself  included,  who  came  expressly 
for  the  occasion,  celebrated  high  mass,  and  most 
fervent  invocations  were  sent  up  to  heaven  for  the 
success  of  the  perilous  voyage  and  the  safe  return  of 


332  BEN  BEOR. 

the  brave  sailors.  Everything  being  now  ready,  the 
last  signal  being  given,  the  ships  steered  out  of  the 
harbor,  a  favorable  wind  filled  the  sails  and  the 
little  flotilla  soon  was  out  of  sight. 

Oh!  that  I  could  have  peered  into  the  far-away 
future  and  had  known  the  ominous  consequences  of 
this  auspicious  event !  Better  I  had  hurled  all  the 
curses  of  hell  against  that  enterprise ;  better  I  had 
sunk  ships  and  men  to  the  very  bottom  of  the  ocean 
than  permit  what  they  but  a  few  months  hence 
achieved — to  find,  as  anticipated,  a  new  world.  Who 
would  have  thought  it  ?  On  the  self-same  morning 
when  these  ships,  these  three  insignificant  caravels, 
steered  West,  the  three  hundred  thousand  exiled  Jews 
wandered  south,  east  and  north,  with  broken  hearts — 
poverty,  despair  and  hunger  in  front  of  them,  death 
and  destruction  in  their  wake.  It  was  indeed  a 
"  Ninth  of  Av ! "  Would  one  have  not  been  considered 
a  raving  maniac  who,  in  the  depth  of  such  misery, 
could  have  cried  out  over  the  outcasts,  as  did  the 
prophet  of  old  : — "  Console  ye,  oh  console  ye,  my 
people,  saith  the  Lord  your  God."  "  The  people  that 
walk  in  the  darkness  shall  yet  see  a  great  light." 

Section  X. — Tomaso  Torquemada. 

The  thread  of  these  episodes  would  not  be  com- 
plete were  I  not  to  follow  to  the  end  one  of  the  chief 
means  which,  with  fiery  zeal  and  fanatic  enthusiasm, 
was  instrumental  in  furthering  my  mission  of 
repressing  the  rights  of  the  people,  my  third 
great  agency  by  which  to  kill  thought — "the 
Holy  Inquisition."  With  Torquemada  at  the  head 
of  such  an  institution,  the  Church  was  no  longer  the 
loving,  kind  and  true  mother,  but  the  veritable 
Moloch  which  devoured  a  lar^e  number  of  its  own 
children,  with  an  insatiable  thirst  for  blood.  The 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  333 

Inquisitor-General  started  a  reign  of  terror  which 
should  last  for  centuries,  extend  to  all  lands  and 
zones,  and  apparently,  to  all  intents  and  pur  poses, 
make  the  power  of  the  altar  so  supreme  and  strong 
as  to  prop  the  thrones  wherever  and  whenever  it  was 
necessary. 

During  the  fourteen  years  of  this  terrible  man's 
official  power  he  had  burned  at  the  stake,  hanged  on 
the  gallows  and  tortured  to  death  not  less  than  ten 
thousand  unrepentant  victims,  and  as  many  more  were 
sent  to  the  galleys.  With  this  number  of  his  sacri- 
fices and  the  expulsion  of  a  half  of  a  million  of  Jews 
and  Moors,  he  inflicted  on  Spain,  his  own  native 
country,  a  malediction  which  coming  ages  will 
not  be  able  to  remove.  Her  dominant  culture, 
reign  of  supremacy  on  land  and  sea,  her  pride  and 
valor,  her  flourishing  commerce  and  trade — all  have 
crumbled  away  as  if  Heaven's  blight  had  struck  her. 

From  the  haughty  pride  of  her  nobility  to  the 
peasants,  heretofore  the  distinguished  character  of 
that  beautiful  semi-tropical  clime,  the  inhabitants 
became  pusillanimous,  cowardly  and  timid.  All  this 
illustrates  the  truth  proclaimed  by  the  poet : — 

"  Lie  is  an  arrow,  turned  by  heaven's  force 
To  strike  its  marksman  in  its  backward  course." 

It  proved  even  so  to  the  person  and  state  of  mind 
of  the  arch-persecutor.  As  he  swept  onward  in  his 
unfaltering  course,  and  as  he  grew  older  in  cruelty 
and  years,  fearful  apprehensions  of  imaginary  dan- 
gers took  hold  of  him.  Suspicion  filled  his  heart 
and  soul.  He  dared  not  eat,  fearing  poison  in  his 
food.  He  could  not  sleep,  for  the  rustle  of  the 
leaves  stirred  by  the  winds  alarmed  him.  He  saw 
in  every  man  an  assassin,  in  every  woman  an 
avenger  of  her  wrongs.  Even  little  children  fright- 


334  BEN  BEOR. 

ened  him  if  they  noisily  and  boisterously  passed 
his  road.  A  mounted  body-guard  of  fifty  familiars 
and  two  hundred  on  foot  had  to  accompany  every 
step  he  made  in  public.  The  least  ailment  set  him 
frantic  with  apprehension  of  death.  Under  these 
circumstances  his  body  dwindled  away,  so  that  he 
was  nothing  but  skin  and  bones.  The  coward  was 
intensely  superstitious,  too.  Spirits  and  sprites 
haunted  him  day  and  night.  The  ghosts  of  those 
whom  he  had  caused  to  find  untimely  ends  tor- 
mented his  ever-vivid  imagination,  dying  over  and 
over  again  before  him  in  their  convulsions,  pangs 
and  expiring  gasps.  All  this  certainly  hastened  the 
hour  that  he  should  be  called  to  his  last  account. 
How  he  whimpered  and  wept,  prayed  and  cursed  as 
he  realized  that  the  inevitable  end  was  at  hand!  It 
was  pitiful  to  see  him  squirm  and  wriggle  in  his  last 
throes.  As  I  stood  there  by  his  bedside,  the  only 
friend  left  him  on  earth,  as  the  last  breath  left  his 
lips,  and  his  eyes  were  already  broken,  I  could  not 
help  but  exclaim  at  his  failing,  ebbing  strength: — 
8ic  semper  tyrannis  ! 


PHANTASMAGORIA  XVIIL 

THE   ART    OF   ARTS. 

It  would  be  folly  to  follow  in  detail  all  the  work- 
ings of  that  dread  machinery,  started  with  such 
powerful  effect,  first  in  Spain  and  then  throughout 
all  lands  and  principalities  within  its  reach.  The 
never  satiated  maw  of  the  Inquisition  continued 
henceforth  and  for  centuries  to  come  to  glut  itself 
with  countless  human  beings  of  all  conditions  and 
every  sphere  of  life. 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  335 

Would  it  not  seem  that  with  the  four  almost 
omnipotent  agencies,  "  intoxicating  drink,  gunpow- 
der, the  unrelenting  Church  tribunal,  and  the  false 
Blood-accusation/'  a  complete  realization  of  my 
heinous  mission  should  be  attained?  That  the 
sceptre  and  the  mace  were  forever  firmly  established 
in  their  supreme  sway  over  the  usurped  domain  of 
the  persons  and  consciences  of  their  helpless  vassals  ? 
That  truth,  justice  and  freedom,  to  all  apparent 
ends,  were  gasping  with  fluttering,  waning  pulse, 
which  seemed  to  be  the  last  throes  of  dissolution? 
Who  could,  who  dared,  snatch  from  me  the  sure  and 
inevitable  victory  for  the  overshadowing  empire  of 
tyranny  and  superstition  ? 

And  yet,  while  I  revel  in  my  unbounded  successes 
in  the  Pyrenean  Peninsula,  dreaming  of  the  univer- 
sal rule  of  the  despots  and  fanatics,  and  concocting 
new  plans  and  schemes  for  the  speedy  attainment  of 
my  ambition,  nearly  all  was  upset  and  effectually 
crushed  by  some  mechanical  device,  invented  at  the 
little  German  town  of  Mentz  by  a  person  whose 
name  had  never  been  mentioned  anywhere  before ; 
working  in  a  dingy  and  retired  back  office,  in  one  of 
those  small  rows  of  houses  which  any  traveller  would 
pass  as  being  beneath  the  dignity  of  even  casual 
observation. 

How  often,  in  my  long  and  baneful  career,  have  I 
received  the  lesson  that  an  all-overruling  Providence 
for  the  achievement  of  the  grandest  purposes  avails 
itself  of  instrumentalities  deemed  by  the  unso- 
phisticated beholder  as  too  insignificant  to  be  even 
\vorthy  of  notice.  The  little  springs  that  bubble  out 
of  the  bosom  of  mother-earth  form  the  globe's  great 
rivers ;  and  the  passing  spark  which  zigzags  from  a 
fleeting  cloud  causes  a  conflagration  which  devours 
the  giant  trees  of  the  forest  and  lays  in  ashes  in  a 
moment  the  teeming,  stirring,  bustling  cities  which 


336  BEN   BEOR. 

took  the  hands  of  man  ages  to  build.  Thus  in 
human  affairs  often  the  most  minute  causes  produce 
effects  entirely  out  of  proportion  to  their  apparent 
possibilities. 

There  was  no  longer  any  necessity  for  my  presence 
in  Spain.  The  Inquisition  was  so  effectually  estab- 
lished, its  advocates  and  representatives  so  zealous 
and  watchful,  and  its  success  so  phenomenally  great, 
that  I  deemed  it  by  far  more  advisable  to  travel 
northward  for  the  introduction  of  this  system  among 
the  different  nationalities  of  the  continent.  On  this 
mission  I  reached  the  city  of  Mentz  (Mainz). 

I  had  been  here  before.  About  forty  years  ago, 
when  bound  southward,  I  had  visited  the  resident 
bishop,  bearing  letters  of  introduction  and  high  recom- 
mendation. I  was  then  received  with  most  cordial 
welcome  and  great  hospitality.  At  that  time,  in  the 
course  of  our  conversation  the  prelate  mentioned  to 
me  that  he  had  among  the  members  of  his  diocese  a 
curious  and  remarkable  family,  whom  he  invited 
me  to  visit.  He  had  called  there  before,  seemed 
greatly  interested  in  the  workings  going  on  there, 
and  so  at  the  appointed  time  we  started  together. 
I  remember  the  circumstances  so  vividly  because  of 
so  unusual  a  nature.  Our  road  lay  through  the 
shabbiest  quarter  of  the  town,  inhabited  mostly 
by  day  laborers  and  petty  tradesmen.  At  last  we 
reached  an  alley,  a  dingy  cul-de-sac,  and  stopping 
at  the  very  extremity,  knocked  at  a  low  door,  being 
admitted  by  an  old  but  venerable-looking  lady. 
The  poorly  furnished  room  which  we  entered  ap- 
peared clean  and  tidy,  the  floor  being  strewn  with 
white  sand,  and  the  little  furniture,  polished  or  oiled, 
placed  with  good  order  and  taste.  Steam,  however, 
and  the  smell  of  soapsuds  filled  the  space,  and  as 
soon  as  we  became  accustomed  to  the  semi-light  pre- 
vailing, I  saw  in  one  of  the  corners  a  buxom-looking 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  337 

young  woman  at  a  tub  engaged  in  washing  clothes. 
Even  under  the  unfavorable  circumstances,  I  noticed 
the  remarkably  fine  appearance  of  this  busily  engaged 
person.  On  our  entrance  she  discontinued  for  a 
moment  and  made  us  a  reverent  courtesy,  immedi- 
ately afterwards  wiping  the  perspiration  from  her 
white,  shining  brow  and  then  resumed  her  work. 
She  was  a  type  of  German  beauty,  with  characteristic 
rosy  cheeks,  large  blue  eyes  and  flaxen  hair.  The 
bare  arms,  round  and  full,  dripped  with  water; 
their  regular  movement  of  washing  displaying 
the  exquisite  contour  of  her  bust  and  form. 
The  bishop  walked  straight  up,  and  chucking  her 
familiarly  under  her  round  chin,  asked : — "  How  is 
our  good  Gretchen  to-day?"  Smiling,  and  with  a 
clear  and  euphonious  voice,  she  answered  : — "  Very 
well,  your  Reverence ;  helping  mother  as  usual !  She 
will  show  you  to  the  workshop,  where  father,  my 
husband  and  Faust  are  busy  in  their  work  at  the  new 
invention."  The  old  lady  led  the  way,  the  bishop 
saying  to  me,  "  This  is  Mrs.  Schoeifer,  the  best  little 
wife  and  daughter !  "  As  I  bowed  to  her  she  grace- 
fully returned  my  greeting,  without,  however,  stop- 
ping in  her  labor.  We  were  soon  ushered  into  the 
u  Werkstatt "  (shop).  It  was  a  gloomy,  smoke-be- 
grimed, littered-up  place,  looking  more  like  an  old 
laboratory  than  a  mechanic's  shop.  As  we  entered, 
the  men,  who  were  busily  engaged  with  the  work, 
stopped  and  came  forward  to  greet  their  visitors. 
They  were  introduced  to  me  by  my  host : — Johannes 
Guttenberg,  Johannes  Faust,  and  Peter  Schoeifer, 
all  natives  of  this  ancient  burgh.  A  peculiar  trio 
they  formed.  Nature  could  not  well  have  moulded 
them  with  stronger  characteristics  concerning  the 
purposes  and  objects  in  which  they  were  asso- 
ciated. Old  Guttenberg  stood  out  most  promi- 
nent among  his  partners.  The  thoughtful  Teuton's 


338  BEN  BEOB. 

face,  with  broad  forehead,  strongly  marked  features 
and  sunken  eyes,  became  still  more  pronounced  by 
the  long  silver-white  hair  falling  in  profusion  down 
his  shoulders.  Faust  was  the  picture  of  craft,  cun- 
ning and  wily  schemes.  Unusually  tall,  slim  and 
cadaverous-looking,  with  dark  complexion,  sharp, 
piercing  eyes  and  hooked  nose,  his  character  was  so 
distinctly  stamped  upon  him  as  to  be  read  at  sight. 
Schoeifer  was  the  embodiment  of  the  "Gute  Deutsche 
Michel"  (good  Dutch  Mickel).  Broad-shouldered, 
rosy,  fat  and  smiling,  he  alone  wore  the  peculiar 
knitted  "  Night  mtitze  "  (bell-cap)  with  its  overlapping 
points,  while  the  others  had  paper  caps  upon  their 
heads,  such  as  laborers  generally  make  for  them- 
selves. These  men  were  engaged  in  a  work  which 
seemed  to  me  of  the  most  puerile  and  trifling  nature. 
They  looked  more  like  wayward  children  at  play 
with  self-constructed  toys,  than  earnest,  hard-labor- 
ing persons  intent  on  earning  a  living.  The  old 
fellow  hammered  away  and  labored  hard  over  a  big 
machine  that  would  not  work  at  all.  He  called  it 
"a  press"  required,  according  to  his  statement,  to 
have  an  easy  forward  and  backward  movement. 
Turning  in  every  direction,  except  that  which  was 
wanted,  he  would  fuss  and  fume  over  it  as  if  for  life. 
The  others  were  cutting  little  sticks  of  wood,  carving 
letters  on  the  top  of  each.  These  experiments  must 
have  been  somewhat  costly  too,  and  Faust,  being 
the  only  one  possessed  of  some  means,  had  to  fur- 
nish the  money  not  only  for  this  work,  but  also  for 
the  support  of  his  companions  and  their  families. 
They  would  not  reveal  to  us  what  they  were  really 
about,  stating  that  we  were  the  only  visitors  ever 
allowed  on  the  premises.  Nor  could  we  guess  in  the 
least  the  object  of  their  efforts.  The  only  thing  so  far 
accomplished  were  some  pretty  fairly  executed  paste- 
board playing-cards,  which  they  had  successfully 
printed  on  their  machine. 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  339 

"When  asked  my  opinion  by  the  bishop  concerning 
the  likelihood  of  any  great  results  from  the  travail  of 
these  people,  I  laughed  at  the  seriousness  of  his  mien, 
and  told  him  that  the  country  was  full  of  such 
dreamers  and  idiosyncratic  speculators,  who  would 
by  some  impossible  mechanical  contrivance  set  the 
world  topsy-turvy.  So  they  have  tried  to  find  the 
philosopher's  stone  which  is  to  change  lead  into  gold; 
so  they  have  searched  for  the  elixir  of  life  to  drive 
death  from  the  world !  Demented  people  have  wasted 
days  and  nights  attempting  to  construct  flying- 
machines.  Nay,  they  have  experimented  in  the  use 
of  steam  from  boiling  water  for  a  motive  power,  and 
in  the  harnessing  of  those  mysterious,  inexplorable 
natural  principles  called  by  various  names — electri- 
city, magnetism  and  other  kinds  of  fabled  "isms" — 
to  their  service  and  use.  Let  us  keep  away  from  these 
latitudinarians,  many  of  whom  become  dangerous  to 
the  state  and  church,  by  revolutionary  thoughts  con- 
cerning the  conservative  laws  which  must  rule  forever 
the  masses  of  men.  Suppose  our  three  half-crazed 
friends  could  contrive  to  print.  All  that  they  would 
then  accomplish  might  be  to  interfere  with  our  copy- 
ists and  illuminators,  taking  the  bread  from  these 
hard-working  scribes.  Whatever  the  mind  has 
thought  and  thinks  was  written  and  must  be  written 
by  the  hand.  All  efforts  to  avoid  this  are  against 
the  rules  of  nature  and  amount  to  nothing.  With 
these  specious  arguments  we  reached  the  episcopal 
residence. 

^  When  seated  comfortably  at  the  table  of  mine  host, 
with  the  fine  Rhine  wine  of  a  scarce  and  old  vintage 
before  us,  he  said : — "  I  told  you  that  the  people  whom 
we  visited  were  of  a  curious  and  remarkable  family. 
Let  me  relate  to  you  some  of  their  history.  Gutten- 
berg  is  an  old  enthusiast  on  the  subject  of  his  con- 
trivance, which  he  holds  absolutely  secret.  Having 


340  BEN  BEOB. 

spent  some  of  his  earlier  years,  days  and  nights 
with  experimenting,  and  making  no  headway  here, 
he  left  one  day  and  turned  up  in  Paris.     His  wife 
and  only  daughter  had  to  shift  for  themselves,  as  he 
left  nothing  for  their  support.     All  he  had  was  this 
little  shanty ;  this  at  least  gave  them  a  shelter.     The 
mother  took  in  washing  and  sewing  for  the  neigh- 
bors, in   which   she   was   bravely   assisted  by  the 
daughter,  who  was  handsome,  cheery  and  uncom- 
plaining.    But  Gretchen  soon  had  two  suitors — a 
rich  one,  who  lavished  a  good  many  favors  on  her. 
This  was  Johannes  Faust.     He  was  allowed  to  come 
and  go,  with  but  little  encouragement  in  his  love- 
affairs,  as  the  girl  showed  a  decided  antipathy  for  him, 
and  it  was  only  to  please  her  mother,  who  saw  a  good 
match  in  the  odd  old  bachelor,  that  she  permitted  his 
visits.     The  other  was  Peter  Schoeifer,  a  fine  me- 
chanic, who  earned  enough  to  live  comfortably,  well 
able,  with  his  moderate  means  and  by  his  industry, 
when  the  time  should  come,  .to  support  a  wife.     He 
was    good-natured,    jovial,    and    so    affectionately 
attentive  to  the  girl,  so  patient  with  the  whims  of 
the  old  lady,  who  discouraged  his  frequent  coming 
by  sour  remarks,  that  it  was  soon  obvious  that  Faust 
with  his  money  had  very  little  chance  in  his  wooing. 
The  fellow  stood  in  very  bad  repute  anyhow.     His 
mysterious  air  and  not  too  attractive   appearance, 
with  a  somewhat  condescending   mode   of  speech, 
spread  the  report  that  he  got  his  riches  by  practising 
the  black  arts,  and  old  Babbles,  a  specially  favored 
busybody  in  the  ward,  positively  asserted,  with  the 
index  finger  striking  the  sides  of  her  nose  and  the 
head  shaldng  with  that  confidential  nod  peculiar  to 
her  class,  that  the  fellow  frequently  smelled  of  sul- 
phur— a  sure  sign  that  he  had  been  in  the  company 
of  the  Evil  One.    Faust  himself  saw  that  he  was  at  a 
disadvantage,  and  now  had  recourse  to  a  bold  stroke  of 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  341 

stratagem.  He  hurried  to  Paris  and  hunted  out  the 
father,  trying  to  bribe  the  old  man  with  gold  to  exert 
paternal  authority  over  his  daughter.  Guttenberg, 
having  made  fair  progress  in  his  schemes,  but  sorely 
in  need  of  funds,  was,  however,  of  that  true,  honest 
German  stock  who  could  not  be  bought  nor  cajoled 
into  any  wrong.  'My  daughter/  he  answered, 
*  marries  whom  she  loves,  and  were  he  as  poor  as 
Job,  if  need  be  I  would  support  both' — although 
he  had  not  supported  anybody — barely  himself — for 
the  last  ten  years.  After  Faust  had  bought  a  lot  of 
trinkets  and  truck  with  which  to  dazzle  his  sweet- 
heart, he  and  the  father  hied  back  to  Mentz  to  let 
Gretchen  decide  for  herself.  But  there  was  no  need 
of  hurry.  Schoeifer,  though  otherwise  obtuse,  seeing 
the  trick  of  his  rival,  persuaded  the  girl  to  clandes- 
tinely marry  him.  So  they  appeared  one  afternoon, 
all  by  themselves  here  at  the  rectory,  while  I  was 
busily  engaged  in  some  official  duty.  It  was  the  most 
laughable  sight  imaginable  to  see  them  enter — the 
girl  in  advance,  the  timid  booby  following,  with  the 
fingers  o'f  one  hand  stuck  in  his  mouth,  with  the 
other  holding  shyly  on  to  her  skirt.  She  did  all  the 
talking,  he  simply  nodding  his  head,  which  dripped 
with  perspiration.  I  had  seen  the  girl  frequently. 
Not  having  paid  any  special  attention,  she  always 
appeared  to  me  one  of  those  modest,  shrinking  young 
females  who  would  not  do  anything  extraordinary 
and  out  of  the  usual  way  of  her  sex.  So  they  got 
married,  and  to  the  credit  of  the  young  husband 
it  must  be  said  he  paid  a  handsome  fee,  which  he 
however  tremblingly  handed  to  his  bride  to  be  passed 
to  me.  The  news  spread  quickly  through  all  the 
parish.  The  mother  when  she  at  last  learned  of  the 
marriage,  fumed  and  fretted  a  good  deal  at  first, 
but,  seeing  that  the  inevitable  had  come,  soon  recon- 
ciled herself  to  the  fact.  When  the  two  travellers 


342  BEN  BEOR. 

came  home  there  was  a  scene.  The  father  was  very 
angry  and  boisterous ;  but  when  Faust  made  some 
sneering  and  disparaging  remarks  about  pauper- 
marriages,  Schoeifer  jumped  at  him  in  righteous 
indignation  and  pounded  and  beat  him  well.  The 
old  man,  who  was  himself  of  a  chivalrous  nature, 
was  filled  with  respect  and  admiration  for  his  son- 
in-law,  took  both  men  by  the  hands  and  restored 
peace  and  tranquillity  in  the  house.  Now  Faust, 
withal,  had  really  and  truly  loved  Gretchen,  and 
although  disappointed  and  chagrined,  seeing  that 
matters  could  not  be  changed,  gave  her  generously 
all  the  presents  he  had  brought  from  Paris.  For 
reasons  the  world  could  not  understand,  he  now 
remained  with  the  family,  supporting  them  with  his 
means,  and  furnishing  Guttenberg  with  funds  for 
the  continuation  of  his  experiments.  He  and 
Schoeffer  are  joined  in  partnership  with  the  old  man, 
and  they  work  away  day  in  and  day  out,  improving 
the  contrivance.  There  is  a  new  little  girl-baby  in 
that  family,  and  the  way  that  fool  Faust  carries  on 
with  the  child  is  a  sight.  If  he  were  its  own  father 
he  could  not  fondle,  caress  and  fuss  more  lovingly 
over  the  infant.  This  has  made  him  and  SchoeBer 
bosom  friends,  although  Gretchen  has  no  use  for 
him,  and  calls  her  girl's  fond  admirer,  Ein  alter 
deutscher  Narr  (an  old  German  fool)." 

Here  the  bishop  ended  his  quaint  story,  and  after 
a  good  laugh  over  the  curious  and  remarkable  rela- 
tions in  that  house,  having  emptied  quite  a  number 
of  cups  of  the  precious  old  wine,  we  both  retired.  I 
soon  after  set  out  on  my  journey. 

Now  after  these  many  years  I  returned  to  this 
place.  I  had  given  no  further  thought  to  the 
inventors  or  their  invention.  The  pressure  of  other 
affairs  had  absorbed  my  attention  entirely.  Frivol- 
ities, as  I  considered  those  innovating  attempts,  had 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  343 

certainly  no  claim  on  my  time  amidst  the  portentous 
task  of  setting  the  torture  and  the  flaming  pyres  to 
do  their  work  against  the  heretics  and  infidels.  But 
now  here  I  was  back.  Assuming  a  changed  and 
aged  appearance,  I  presented  once  again  my  cre- 
dentials to  the  bishop,  who  also  had  grown  hoary 
and  feeble.  On  explaining  to  him  my  momentous 
mission,  for  which  I  asked  his  zealous  co-operation, 
he  recognized  the  old  friend  and  acquaintance,  and 
extended  the  former  cordial  welcome  and  unbounded 
hospitality  to  the  returned  visitor.  When  my  affairs 
were  fully  talked  over,  he  again  pressingly  invited 
me  to  visit  our  former  acquaintances,  saying  that 
great  surprises  were  in  store  for  me.  After  a  sump- 
tuous dinner  we  were  driven  to  our  destination. 
There  were  indeed  marvels  of  changes  presented  to 
my  wondering  gaze,  wrought  by  the  hand  of  time 
and  favorable  circumstances. 

The  dingy,  foul  quarter,  with  its  former  tum- 
bling-down dwellings,  was  transformed  into  fine 
edifices  and  palace-like  buildings.  The  narrow, 
dirty  streets,  inclusive  of  the  mean  cul-de-sae,  were 
replaced  by  broad,  well-paved  avenues,  and  the 
poor  and  squalid  inhabitants  had  given  way  to 
a  wealthy,  cultured  and  refined  class  of  citizens. 
We  stopped  before  one  of  the  finest  looking  mansions. 
After  rapping  repeatedly  we  were  admitted,  and  on 
our  entrance  ushered  into  the  presence  of  Schoeffer 
and  Faust,  who  were  much  pleased  to  see  their  old 
friends  again.  They  welcomed  us  heartily  and  quickly 
called  in  the  now  aged  Gretchen  and  a  troop  of  her 
married  and  unmarried  progeny,  inclusive  of  a  crowd 
of  sons-in-law  and  daughters-in-law,  with  an  end- 
less row  of  grandchildren.  Guttenberg  and  his 
wife  had  long  since  died ;  the  old  man  had  yet  seen 
the  realization  of  his  dreams,  having  become  re- 
nowned and  comfortably  situated  as  the  inventor  of 


344  BEN  BEOR. 

the  printing  press  and  movable  types.  Faust  and 
Schoeffer,  as  partners  and  chums,  had  continued  the 
business. 

Back  of  the  residence  was  an  immense  stone 
structure,  their  factory.  They  were  not  so  much  en- 
gaged in  printing  work  themselves  as  in  furnishing 
types  and  presses  to  the  many  offices  already  estab- 
lished all  over  the  continent.  A  little  army  of  em- 
ployes worked  incessantly  at  bench  and  furnaces. 
Nearly  three  hundred  offices,  situated  in  the  remot- 
est quarters  of  the  country,  received  their  supplies 
from  here,  and  orders  for  the  organizing  of  new 
ones  came  in  so  fast  that,  in  spite  of  all  available 
working  forces,  they  were  continually  much  behind 
in  satisfying  customers.  They  were  engaged  in  the 
practical  art  of  printing  in  another  department. 
We  were  shown  the  compositors  at  work  setting 
type ;  the  pressmen,  rolling  off  sheet  after  sheet  of 
the  prints.  These  consisted  mostly  of  copies  of  the 
Bible  or  parts  thereof.  In  one  corner  was  stacked 
up  a  pile  of  folios  containing  the  Old  and  New  Tes- 
taments in  Latin,  printed  on  vellum  with  types  imi- 
tating script  in  form.  The  book  consisted  of  some 
637  leaves,  and  was  the  last  and  only  complete  work 
executed  by  the  inventor  himself.  (The  only  com- 
plete one  of  these  in  America  is  in  possession  of  the 
Lenox  family  at  New  York,  costing  them  $2,600.) 
At  some  of  the  furnaces  the  workmen  were  casting 
Hebrew  types.  On  inquiry  I  learned  that  the  men 
were  preparing  the  means  for  an  early  publication  of  a 
complete  Bible  and  Talmud  in  the  original  lan- 
guages. Here  Faust  took  me  aside,  and  almost  in 
a  whisper  said  to  me  : — "  I  will  tell  you  some  secrets 
which  I  have  imparted  to  no  one  as  yet.  In  my 
younger  days  I  did  not  get  the  bride ;  that  was, 
perhaps,  best,  for,  sooner  or  later,  she  and  her  friends 
would  have  learned  what  no  one  suspects  even  now 


HISTORICAL,   PHANTASMAGORIA.  345 

— that  I  am  a  Jew.  A  goldsmith  by  trade,  like 
many  of  my  wealthy  race,  I  had  gone  to  Spain  on 
business.  While  there  I  thought  it  best,  as  help  to 
my  enterprise,  to  join  the  host  of  'New  Christians/ 
and  prospered  greatly.  However,  persecutions  were 
commenced  against  those  who  remained  secretly 
true  to  the  old  faith.  Then  I  quietly  wound 
up  my  affairs  and  returned  here  to  my  native  place. 
When  in  Paris  with  the  old  man  Guttenberg  I  saw 
the  great  possibilities  which  were  in  store  for  the 
genius  of  that  man's  labor.  So  I  remained  at- 
tached to  the  family,  invested  my  means  for  their 
support  and  the  development  of  the  invention,  and, 
God  be  blessed,  you  see  how  we  all  have  prospered." 
The  bishop  and  myself  took  leave  and  departed 
for  the  rectory.  The  garrulous  prelate  kept  on  talk- 
ing incessantly,  praising  in  extravagant  terms  the 
wonderful  achievements  we  had  witnessed.  It  was 
well  that  he  did  all  the  conversing,  and  that  only 
now  and  then,  when  asking  some  approving  ques- 
tions, I  was  aroused  from  my  painful  reverie  to  re- 
turn some  answer.  At  last  I  could  retire,  and  pre- 
tending some  special  religious  meditation  went  into 
the  cathedral.  Here,  after  walking  for  some  time 
up  and  down  the  aisles,  I  found  myself  finally 
standing  before  the  high  altar,  and  almost  involun- 
tarily gave  vent  to  my  exasperated  feelings.  I 
shrieked  out,  as  if  with  cries  from  my  infuriated 
soul: — "Accursed  fate  that  follows  in  my  wake; 
that  thwarts  every  effort  of  my  life !  Here,  as  if 
over  night,  has  grown  up  again  a  giant  power  which 
I  might  have  easily  strangled  but  a  few  decades  ago 
with  one  blow  in  that  maledicted  back  office.  Short- 
sighted phantom  that  I  am !  who  could  not  see  in  the 
pigmy  at  which  I  then  laughed  in  scorn  and  deri- 
sion, the  germ  soon  to  grow  into  the  gigantic  pro- 
portions which  it  has  attained  already  and  which 


346  BEN  BEOR. 

will  expand  to  encircle  the  world,  now  unchecked 
and  unrestrained !  I  was  so  confident  that  I  had 
gagged  and  bound  the  people,  had  smitten  their 
rights  and  prerogatives;  had  propped  the  thrones 
securely  by  the  gunpowder,  and  the  Church  su- 
premely by  the  Inquisition ;  I  had  revelled  in  the 
countless  tortured  deaths  of  the  maledicted  New 
Christian  and  the  expulsion  of  the  Jews  from  every 
land  and  every  zone,  and  here,  by  the  agency  of  one 
mechanical  contrivance,  all  is  thrown  back — all  is  at 
hazard  once  again  !  Must  I  despair  ?  Shall  I  give 
up?  Never — never — never !  Types  and  press  shall 
not  stand  in  my  way !  Break  them !  smash  them ! 
printers  and  books  together!  To  the  bottom  of 
eternal  confusion  with  them !  They  shall  not  con- 
quer me !  Never — never  !  " 

A  crescent  of  light  shot  as  if  out  of  darkness  be- 
fore my  eyes.  Over  the  chancel  stood  in  life-size 
two  beautiful  pictures,  master  works  of  ancient  art. 
They  were  the  portraits  of  Moses  and  Christ.  In 
my  exhaustion  I  riveted  my  eyes  upon  the  paintings. 
Suddenly  they  seemed  imbued  with  life.  Out  of  the 
black  recess  in  the  background  above  them  stepped 
the  prophet  Elijah.  It  seemed  as  if  the  wide  space 
of  the  immense  nave  was  filled  with  sunshine  and 
music.  The  grand  organ  opposite  me  thundered  out 
its  mighty  strains — all  combined  to  echo  back  my 
last  words — Never !  never !  never !  Some  priests  com- 
ing in  late  for  midnight  mass  found  me  lying  like 
one  dead  at  the  steps  of  the  altar.  They  carried 
me  to  my  apartment.  For  several  days  I  remained 
comatose.  The  doctor  forbade  all  visitors.  When 
I  came  to  life  again  the  first  to  see  me  was  the  good 
bishop.  He  had  been  greatly  concerned  about  the 
misfortune  which  had  befallen  his  guest,  and  genu- 
ine gladness  beamed  from  his  benignant  face  when 
he  saw  me  so  far  recovered  as  to  be  able  to  sit  up. 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  347 

He  recommended  that  I  should  keep  myself  quiet 
and  perfectly  comfortable.  But  nothing  soothed 
and  strengthened  me  more  than  the  news  he  im- 
parted before  leaving : — Faust  had  gone  on  some 
business  several  days  ago  to  Paris.  Black-death 
had  not  entirely  disappeared  from  that  city.  He 
had  on  his  arrival  there  fallen  as  one  of  its  vic- 
tims, and  was  dead  and  buried.  Although  a  little 
drop  of  comfort  only,  there  was  no  use  in  repining. 
Soon  bidding  my  host  a  grateful  farewell,  I  de- 
parted for  the  furtherance  of  my  missionary  work, 
as  chief  agent  of  the  Inquisition,  to  another  and  dis- 
tant land,  awaiting  future  developments  for  the  anni- 
hilation of  the  devil,  of  the  printer  and  the  demon  of 
the  press.  I  state  here,  however,  as  the  head  advocate 
of  all  that  is  evil,  tyrannous,  ignorant,  false,  bigoted 
and  hypocritical,  I  am  more  afraid  now  of  the  Art 
of  Arts  than  of  all  other  causes  combined. 


PHANTASMAGORIA  XIX. 

THE   FIGHT   AGAINST  THE   TALMUD. 

Section  I. — Dominicans  and  Franciscans. 

My  main  commission  consisted  in  repairing  to  the 
city  of  Cologne,  and  there  assuming  the  leadership 
as  chief  of  the  Inquisition  of  the  southern  section  of 
the  country.  The  appointment  under  the  high  but 
familiar  name  of  Frater  Jacob  Hochstratten  had 
been  sanctioned  in  Rome,  and  the  "  brevet "  therefor 
had  preceded  my  arrival.  So  I  was  received  by  the 
superior  of  the  Dominicans  with  great  ceremony 
and  eclat.  They  had  here  their  wealthiest  and  most 
powerful  abbeys  and  domains.  But  lately  they  suf- 


348  BEN  BEOR 

fered  much  by  the  aggressions  of  enemies,  a  rival 
order  known  as  the  Franciscans.  The  two  ecclesi- 
astical bodies  at  this  time  (1505)  to  a  large  extent 
represented  the  spirit  of  the  entire  German  nation. 
We,  the  followers  of  St.  Dominico,  considered  our- 
selves the  emissaries  of  every  reactionary,  conserva- 
tive principle,  and  with  the  wealth  and  power  of 
ages  on  our  side,  were  the  embodiment  of  despotism 
incarnate,  holding  even  sovereigns  and  popes  in  awe 
of  our  unyielding,  tyrannous  sway. 

The  Franciscans  were  mendicant  monks,  pledged 
to  poverty  and  abstinence,  closely  knitted  together 
in  the  relations  to  their  order,  very  numerous  and 
highly  popular  with  the  masses  of  the  people.  Great 
scholars  and  thinkers,  they  hated  our  arrogant, 
ignorant  and  aristocratic  presumption ;  helped  in 
many  instances  to  humiliate  our  pride  and  repeatedly 
thwarted  our  ambitious  designs  and  oppressive 
schemes.  They  were  esteemed  at  the  Vatican  and 
held  in  great  honor  by  the  then  reigning  Emperor 
Maximilian.  But  for  this  we  would  long  since  have 
utterly  crushed  these  offensive  beggar-friars. 

Aside  from  powerful  opponents,  the  conditions 
under  which  I  assumed  my  great  office  were  ex- 
tremely different  from,  those  of  the  "  South  lands/' 
whence  I  had  come.  This  was  caused  by  the  nearly 
opposite  and  diverging  characters  of  the  people. 

The  Spaniard,  in  general,  has  very  little  mind  of 
his  own,  is  superstitiously  ignorant,  impulsive  and 
easily  stirred  up,  and  when  once  aroused,  in  his  pas- 
sionate temper  is  readily  led,  even  in  most  chimeric 
plots  and  enterprises,  by  the  strong  will  of  a  master 
spirit.  The  German  in  his  true  character  is  of  en- 
tirely opposite  traits.  Thoughtful,  slow  and  medi- 
tative, the  emotional  counts  for  very  little  in  his 
motives  of  action,  which  mainly  rest  upon  reason 
and  unswayable  convictions  for  honesty  and  truth. 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  349 

Let  no  one  who  wishes  to  make  a  correct  estimate  of 
this  nationality  fall  into  my  serious  error,  to  mis- 
take that  apparent  immovability  for  stupor,  or  that 
seeming  want  of  sentimentality  for  an  absence  of 
humane  sympathy.  A  blinded  measurement  of  such 
mistaken  notions  prepared  for  me  all  the  fatal  trou- 
bles arising  from  this  period  into  the  long  avenues 
of  a  calamitous  future.  I  came  here  with  the  falla- 
cious idea  that  this  was  the  land  of  robber-knights ; 
that  the  people  were  coarse  and  stupid  ;  that  every 
one  was  a  coward  when  dealing  with  a  superior, 
and  a  despot  when  in  the  presence  of  an  inferior ; 
that  the  overawing  j  urisdiction  of  the  "  Fehm"  tri- 
bunal in  its  tyranny  had  extinguished  manhood  and 
resistance,  and  that  it  required  but  the  heavy  arm  of 
the  sturdy  Chief  Inquisitor  to  carry  everything  be- 
fore him  and  reign  supreme  over  a  subservient  and 
abject  people.  I  did  not  count  upon  the  dormant 
powers  of  the  genuine  Teuton,  which,  once  awakened, 
would  cause  a  regeneration  not  dreamed  of  even  by 
the  most  sanguine  lover  of  Deutschland.  Sim- 
plicity of  life,  a  strict  morality,  uncouth  and  even 
brusque,  had  been  well  preserved  among  the 
masses.  Christianity  here  was  yet  an  ideal  and  a 
living  religion ;  while  in  Rome,  Madrid  and  Paris 
the  educated  and  advanced  laughed  at  its  tenets  and 
despised  its  priests. 

True,  it  took  a  mighty  rattling  to  rouse  the  tor- 
pid, easy-going  giant.  Unfortunate  creature  that  I 
am !  to  be  myself  the  bearer  and  wielder  of  the 
prod  that  should  goad  these  otherwise  harmless  ob- 
jects to  rise  in  majesty  against  their  oppressors,  and 
thus  once  stirred,  overwhelm  with  defeat  an  adver- 
sary deemed  until  then  nearly  all-powerful.  Such 
proved  the  woful  result  of  my  ensuing  experiences. 

The  most  influential  associates  who  received  me  at 
my  arrival  in  Cologna  with  enthusiastic  cordiality, 


350  BEN  BEOR. 

were  the  prior  Ortimus  Gratius,  a  great  literati, 
widely  known  for  his  theological  and  controversial 
works;  Victor  van  Karben,  his  factotum  and 
amanuensis ;  and  Arnold  of  Tongern,  a  professor  of 
Dominican  theology.  As  this  trio  of  men  play  an 
important  role  in  the  portentous  events  now  follow- 
ing, it  is  meet  to  give  here  so  much  of  their  bio- 
graphical notices  as  will  lead  to  an  understanding  of 
their  characters. 

Gratius  was  the  illegitimate  son  of  a  priest,  well 
educated  and  highly  praised  by  some  of  his  contem- 
poraries as  a  poet  and  magister.  Feeling  keenly 
the  reproach  which  attached  to  his  birth,  it  stung 
him  to  the  quick  like  a  deformity  which  always 
sours  the  disposition  of  an  unfortunate  cripple.  He 
became  a  cynic,  hater  of  man,  and  among  these  a 
most  rampant  maligner  and  foe  of  the  Hebrews. 
When  a  boy  at  school,  he  had  once  unmercifully 
beaten  a  companion  of  that  race,  and  the  whipped 
fellow  in  his  anger  cried  out  tauntingly  the  words  of 
Scripture : — "A  bastard  shall  not  come  into  the  con- 
gregation of  the  Lord."  This  decided  his  character 
and  all  future  tendencies  in  his  career.  He  became 
a  monomaniac  in  the  direction  of  writing  books  full 
of  wrath  against  the  Israelites,  ever  endeavoring  to 
prejudice  the  Christians  against  them  and  to  raise 
revolts  among  the  Catholics  against  the  Jewish  peo- 
ple. Ignorant  concerning  the  most  important  data 
for  successful  authorship  in  that  direction,  he 
selected  as  his  friend  and  secretary  a  renegade 
Jew,  Victor  van  Karben.  This  self-styled  rabbi 
had  but  a  smattering  of  biblical  or  rabbinical  He- 
brew, had  abandoned  wife  and  three  children,  in 
order  to  follow  out  his  craving  for  notoriety.  Not 
regarded  as  anybody  among  his  own,  he  had  recourse 
to  the  baptismal  font  and  was  welcomed  as  a  great 
acquisition  by  the  ever-ready  proselyting  clergy. 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  351 

Gratius  adopted  him  in  his  favor  and  employed  the 
apostate  to  furnish  material  from  the  books  of  the 
Jews  containing  accusations  of  traducing  and  vili- 
fying the  Christian  religion.  A  volume  of  bitter 
charges  of  this  kind  had  made  its  appearance  under 
the  title  of  "  Life  and  Fashions  of  the  Jews  "  (1504). 
Although  thousands  of  these  were  distributed  gratis 
they  fell  flat.  It  had  been  written  in  a  clumsy,  coarse 
and  vulgar  style  and  found  neither  readers  nor 
friends.  The  last  one  in  our  trio  was  Arnold  of 
Tongern.  He  was,  according  to  the  standard  of  his 
age,  a  profoundly  learned  man,  and  had  been  elected 
as  professor  of  theology  at  the  priestly  seminary  of 
our  order.  His  reputation,  however,  had  become  a 
stench  in  the  nostrils  of  the  people,  it  being  gener- 
ally known  that  in  his  youth  he  had  been  convicted 
of  a  felonious  crime.  Several  Israelites,  as  eye- 
witnesses of  the  dastardly  deed,  testified  in  court 
against  him.  For  this  he  turned  into  a  life-long, 
raging  Anti-Semite. 

And  these  were  the  chief  people  with  whose  as- 
sistance I  must  stamp  out  heresy  and  unbelief  in 
this  widely  affected  territory.  Ever  since  Johannes 
Huss  and  the  Albigenses,  his  followers,  had  been 
hunted  to  death,  the  leaven  of  their  teachings  had 
fermented  among  all  classes  of  citizens,  and  while 
not  openly  an  organized  sect,  yet  large  numbers  in- 
clined toward  liberal  principles  were  known  among 
themselves  by  the  title  of  "  Humanitarians."  They 
had  influential  adherents  everywhere — among  the 
learned  and  illiterate,  the  rich  and  the  poor,  the  high 
priesthood,  nobility,  and  even  among  kings  and 
princes  down  to  the  mechanics  and  day-laborers. 
The  Franciscans  favored  them  and  obstructed  by 
every  means  in  their  power  any  agency  that  had 
been  thus  far  devised  against  them  by  my  prede- 
cessors. Tolerance,  a  word  hitherto  stricken  out 


352  BEN  BEOR. 

with  bloody  hands  from  the  dictionary  of  the  Church, 
became  their  boasting  watchword,  and  behind  the 
towers  and  palisades  of  Truth  was  erected  for  the  time 
being  a  refuge-place  for  my  eternal  enemies  and  an- 
tagonists. Growing  intelligence  was  tired  of  hunting 
down,  persecuting  and  butchering  people  because  of 
belief  and  differing  modes  of  worshipping  God. 
Here  it  was  not  an  easy  matter  any  longer  to  throw 
fire-brands  for  outbreaks  of  Jew-baiting.  Germany 
had  been  oversatiated  with  revolting  cruelties  since 
the  brutalities  of  the  Flagelants,  and  had  prac- 
tically experienced  the  damage  done  in  all  directions 
by  the  merciless  havoc.  But  since  my  arrival  at 
this  place  from  Mentz  I  had  great  and  additional 
reasons  to  dread  a  peaceful  settlement  for  the  fa- 
vorable position  secured  by  the  hated  children  of 
the  house  of  Jacob.  Had  I  not  seen  with  my  own 
eyes  in  that  printing  office  of  Schoeffer  and  Faust 
the  preparing  of  publications  of  their  Hebrew  Scrip- 
tures, and,  worst  of  all,  the  Talmud?  What  does 
this  book  contain  ?  I  know  it  not !  Nor  do  any 
one  of  the  many  sages  and  wiseacres  among  the  pre- 
lates and  doctors  of  learning,  inclusive  of  my  im- 
mediate associates,  whom  I  since  have  consulted. 
But  I  know,  and  they  all  confirm  this,  that  it  was 
the  most  sacred  and  revered  book  among  the  He- 
brews, who,  with  singular  industry  and  persever- 
ance, pore  over  the  huge  volumes  with  the  rising  of 
each  day  deep  into  the  night.  I  was  possessed  of 
the  idiosyncratic  idea  that  within  the  leaves  of  those 
maledicted  tomes  were  hidden  the  secrets  which  had 
preserved  and  maintained  their  existence  through 
all  the  afflictions  and  woes  which  I  had  brought  so 
plentifully  on  their  devoted  heads.  Therefore  I  was 
determined  on  war — war  to  extermination  on  this 
well-preserved  labyrinth  of  thought  and  knowledge. 
But  whence  should  I  get  help  necessary  to  accom- 
plish my  object  ? 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  353 

Section  1 L— Joseph  Pfe/erkorn. 

In  a  narrow  lane  of  the  Ghetto  at  ancient 
Cologne  there  was  one  of  the  usual  butcher  shops, 
kept  by  Joseph  Pfefferkorn.  He  was  a  broad- 
faced,  dark  and  sinister-looking  man,  who  had 
come  here  several  years  ago  with  his  spruce, 
lively  and  handsome  little  wife,  Brendel,  from  a 
small  city  of  the  Christian  province  of  Moravia. 
He  boasted  to  be  a  direct  descendant  and  pupil  of 
the  renowned  Rabbi  Meyer  Pfefferkorn,  of  Prague. 
Presenting  himself  on  his  arrival  before  the  board 
of  examiners  to  be  licensed  as  one  of  the  official 
butchers  (Shochet),  an  office  of  some  considerable 
religious  trust,  he  was  found  to  have  just  enough 
knowledge  and  technical  practice  to  pass.  With  the 
assistance  of  some  benevolent  co-religionists,  he  was 
enabled,  though  abjectly  poor  then,  to  hire  the  little 
shop  and  establish  himself  as  one  of  the  meat  sellers. 
The  little  woman  took  her  stand  behind  the  counter 
and  attended  to  the  customers,  as  her  husband  was 
absent  from  home  a  great  deal.  The  couple  did  not 
live  happily  together,  he  being  rude  and  coarse,  and 
she  frivolous,  inclined  to  spend  a  good  deal  of 
money  011  extravagant  dress,  and  not  too  modestly 
ogling  with  the  young  men  of  the  neighborhood. 
Both  were  heard  repeatedly  quarrelling  and  had 
angry  altercations;  one  of  the  newsmongering  women, 
living  close  by,  even  asserted  that  she  heard  cries 
and  falling  blows  toward  midnight  in  that  shanty, 
considered  awful  among  the  Jewish  people,  to  whom 
such  an  outrage  as  striking  a  woman  had  never  been 
known.  And  yet  the  financial  affairs  of  the  concern 
prospered  astonishingly,  and  everybody  wondered 
whence  the  sources  came  from,  when  the  dimensions  of 
the  store  were  widened  at  several  periods,  and  the 
custom  increased  in  quantity  and  quality.  A  fine 


354  BEN  BEOR. 

pair  of  horses  with  a  handsome  butcher-cart  were 
the  latest  additions  to  the  establishment.  It  became 
soon  the  envious  talk  among  the  dwellers  of  the 
quarter,  and  as  nothing  succeeds  like  success,  Rabbi 
Joseph  Pfefferkorn,  as  he  loved  to  have  himself 
called,  rose  in  importance  and  influence  among  the 
congregation.  Many  whispered  about  that  he  was 
ambitious  to  be  elected  at  the  next  session  .as  one  of 
the  board  of  managers.  This,  however,  came  to  a 
speedy  end.  One  morning  the  store  was  found 
sealed  up  by  the  municipal  authorities,  and  the 
butcher  Joseph  was  led  through  the  streets  in  irons 
between  mounted  policemen.  He  had  been  caught 
in  the  middle  of  the  night  burglarizing  the  house  of 
a  wealthy  citizen  and  stealing  a  large  sum  of  money. 
Suspected  for  some  time  of  being  the  author  of  such 
recurring  crimes,  he  had  lately  been  closely 
watched,  and,  although  working  with  the  skill  and 
shrewdness  of  a  professional  thief,  the  eye  of  the  law 
watched  the  sinner,  and  the  heavy  hand  of  punish- 
ment was  now  upon  him.  There  ensued  a  quick 
trial,  and  the  guilty  offender  found  himself  without 
delay  behind  the  bars  of  the  prison.  Brendel,  in 
her  trouble  and  anxiety,  went  before  the  rabbi  and 
his  assistants,  pleading  and  imploring  for  help  to 
procure  the  release  of  her  husband.  But  there  was 
nowhere  sympathy  for  the  case.  It  was  the  official 
and  general  opinion  that  if  an  Israelite  so  far  forgets 
his  honor  and  becomes  a  thief,  which  always  casts  a 
black  shadow  upon  all  his  co-religionists,  he  should 
suffer  the  full  penalty  of  the  law,  without  any  med- 
dling of  or  help  from  friends  or  the  people.  "We 
pity  you  in  your  misfortune  and  tears,"  they  all  said 
to  Brendel,  "  but  will  not  and  must  not  mix  our- 
selves up  with  the  case.  Let  the  Christians  know 
that  we  are  even  more  eager  to  punish  any  one  of 
ours  who  commits  a  crime  than  they  are."  So,  with- 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  355 

out  a  crumb  of  consolation,  she  went  to  the  prison 
and  reported  to  her  husband  the  cruel  reception  she 
had  received  from  her  own  people.  Rabbi  Joseph, 
who  had  been  hopeful  of  relief,  fell  into  a  paroxysm 
of  wrath.  He  swore  and  raved  that  he  would  have 
revenge  on  the  whole  crowd,  and  that  they  should 
rue  to  the  end  of  their  days  for  keeping  one  of  their 
own  in  humiliation  and  shame. 

And  he  was  as  good  as  his  word.  Early  next  day 
he  sent  to  the  priory  soliciting  a  visit  from  the 
father  confessor.  As  the  case  seemed  to  me  of  some 
importance  I  went  myself  and  found  my  surmise 
correct.  I  had,  by  mere  chance,  discovered  the  man 
I  wanted  and  needed.  After  expressing  my  regrets 
at  finding  so  clever  a  man  in  such  a  bad  predicament, 
he  asked  if  I  knew  of  any  possibility  by  which  he 
might  become  relieved  and  his  offence  condoned.  I 
explained  to  him  that  there  might  be  found  a  way 
with  the  Count  of  Gutenstein,  the  judge,  to  obtain 
pardon,  "  but  the  conditions  under  which  I  would 
exert  myself  for  this  purpose  may  seem  too  hard  for 
you."  "  And  if  your  reverence  please,  what  are  they  ?" 
he  rejoined.  " Foremost  of  all,"  I  replied,  "you 
and  yours  must  be  baptized  and  become  Christians." 
"Well/'  he  answered,  in  a  cynical,  almost  sneering 
manner, "  that  cannot  be  so  very  difficult,  and  will  not 
hurt  much,  will  it?"  "No,  not  much,"  I  said,  with 
an  involuntary  smile,  looking  the  rascal  through 
and  through,  "but  that  is  not  all — do  you  know 
anything  of  the  Talmud?"  "I  know  everything 
about  it,"  he  quickly  responded,  and  his  eyes 
actually  glistened  as  he  proceeded  to  say,  "and 
if  you  Christians  were  only  aware  how  its  pages  are 
full  with  blasphemy  against  the  founder  of  your 
religion  and  crammed  with  virulent  animosity  and 
hatred  toward  its  professors,  the  book  and  its  stu- 
dents would  not  fare  well  much  longer.  They  ought 


356  BEN  BEOR. 

to  have  been  burned  together  long  ago."  "But  the 
Jews  are  your  brethren,"  I  said,  interrupting  him. 
"No  longer,  your  reverence,"  he  almost  hissed  out; 
"they  have  insulted  my  poor,  innocent,  pretty  little 
wife,  and  scorned  me  in  my  present  condition, 
instead  of  helping  me."  "Ah!  is  that  it?"  I  ex- 
claimed, as  I  shook  him  fervently  by  the  hand,  "  then 
you  are  my  man ;  you  seek  to  be  revenged  on  these 
cormorants,  and  shall  have  it  to  your  heart's  content. 
When  admitted  to  our  fold  I  will  take  you  in  my 
service  to  tell  the  whole  world  what  is  in  that  delec- 
table Talmud,  and  we  shall  fare  ill  if  the  last  copy 
of  it  is  not  burned  before  we  have  done  with  it." 
He  rubbed  his  big,  red  hands  in  joyful  glee.  I  could 
have  hugged  that  convict  to  my  heart.  Two  sub- 
jects better  fitted  for  the  satanic  work  in  prospect 
could  not  well  have  been  brought  together  by  aus- 
picious fate.  Within  three  months  the  prisoner, 
released  by  my  intercession,  and  his  sprightly  wife 
were  admitted  to  the  bosom  of  the  Holy  Church. 
Count  von  Gutenstein  and  his  pious  spouse  stood 
sponsors  at  the  altar.  Kabbi  Joseph  was  changed 
into  Johannes,  and  his  marital  partner  into  Bertha. 
They  proudly  and  ostentatiously  left  the  cathedral, 
and  were  followed  by  a  large  procession  of  a  jubilant 
mob,  moving  through  the  Ghetto,  parading  them- 
selves to  the  chagrined  and  mortified  Jews.  Next 
day  the  new  Johannes  was  installed  in  his  office  near 
the  Dominical  rectory,  and  could  be  seen  sitting  at 
a  writing  desk  engaged  in  his  treacherous  work. 
His  wife  had  now,  instead  of  young  Hebrews,  a 
host  of  shaven  clericals  for  admirers,  who  vied  with 
one  another  in  paying  her  assiduous  attention ;  and 
the  willing  husband,  as  he  pocketed  the  villanous 
proceeds,  whispered  in  her  ear,  "  The  more  the  bet- 
ter, only  remain  true  to  me! " 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  357 

Section  III.— The  WShumed  at  Work. 

"  M'Sh umed  "  is  a  loathed  name  given  by  the  Jews 
to  one  of  their  race  who  for  mercenary  purposes 
forsakes  the  religion  of  his  forefathers.  Nothing 
in  any  language  embodies  in  one  term  such  concen- 
trated scorn,  virulent  disdain  and  consummate  es- 
trangement than  this  epithet,  applied  to  a  speculating 
convert.  It  is  a  universal  axiom  among  the  Semitic 
people  that  every  misfortune  which  has  befallen 
them  through  all  the  eras  of  their  history  had  its 
origin  and  cause  through  the  treachery  of  some  such 
rascal. 

4-t  last  Johannes  Pfefferkorn  had  finished  the  long 
anticipated  manuscript  of  his  labors  entitled,  "Hos- 
tis  Judaerum."  A  printing  outfit  and  skilled  laborers 
had  been  imported  from  Mentz,  and  the  typographical 
work  was  pressed  forward  with  all  possible  speed. 
Two  editions,  one  in  Latin  and  one  in  German,  were 
issued  at  once,  and  as  soon  as  finished  distributed 
over  the  reading  world. 

The  book  was  written  in  a  peculiar,  aggravating, 
sarcastic  tone,  a  style  of  its  own,  by  the  author.  It 
arraigned  the  ancient  and  modern  rabbins  of  obsti- 
nately refusing  to  acknowledge  Christ  as  the  Messiah, 
nor  paying  proper  reverence  to  the  Madonna  and  the 
Saints.  It  showed,  by  fulsome  quotations  torn  from 
their  contexts  of  the  Talmud,  ignorantly  translated 
and  misinterpreted,  that  stealing,  lying  and  even 
killing  were  no  sins  if  committed  against  non- 
Israelites.  It  charged  the  whole  race  to  be  usurers 
and  non-producers,  Jiving  on  the  fat  of  the  land  at  the 
expense  of  their  hard-working  neighbors.  It  adjured 
all  good  Catholics  to  burn  this  pernicious  literature, 
including  even  the  Hebrew  Scriptures,  substituting 
the  Latin  Vulgate — especially,  however,  the  accursed 
Talmud  and  rabbinical  writings,  and  insisted  upon 


358  BEN   BEOK. 

that  the  whole  Ghetto  should  peremptorily  be  com- 
pelled to  attend  mass;  that  the  children  of  the 
Hebrews  should  be  taken  by  force  from  their  parents 
to  be  baptized  and  educated  as  Christians.  It  de- 
clared it  was  absolutely  necessary  to  deprive  these 
crucifiers  of  all  their  worldly  goods,  to  be  confiscated 
for  the  benefit  of  the  state  and  the  altar,  and  that 
they  be  forced  by  the  authorities  to  the  lowliest 
menial  labors,  to  earn  their  bread  by  the  sweat  of 
their  brows.  The  book  closed  with  the  implied  as- 
severation that  the  old,  sage  minister  of  state,  Haman, 
of  Persian  memory,  was  right  when  he  asserted  a 
thousand  years  ago : — 

"  There  is  a  peculiar  people  scattered  abroad  and 
dispersed  among  the  peoples  in  all  the  provinces  of 
thy  kingdom,  and  their  laws  are  diverse  from  those 
of  every  nation ;  neither  keep  they  the  king's  laws ; 
therefore,  it  is  not  for  the  king's  profit  to  suffer 
them."  (Esther  iii.  8.) 

All  this  was  but  the  oracular  teachings  of  the 
hateful  Dominicans,  printed  now  by  their  new 
mouthpiece,  the  "  M'Shumed." 

Nor  did  it  fail,  as  all  such  vituperous  literature 
always  will,  to  create  quite  a  stir  among  the  different 
classes  of  readers.  Foremost  it  was  highly  satis- 
factory to  our  sacred  order ;  all  the  more  so,  as  it  had 
been  fathered  by  one  of  those  Hebrews,  the  hapless 
subjects  assailed.  The  learned  and  thoughtful  had  a 
grim  laugh  at  the  incongruities  and  skilfully  falsified 
facts,  expressed  in  language  so  crude  and  hobbling, 
even  after  painful  correction  and  polish,  that  it  be- 
trayed to  them  the  ignoramus  at  sight.  The  mass  of 
general  readers  did  not  comprehend  at  all  what  these 
slings  and  arrows  meant,  why  they  were  sent  forth, 
and  they  took  very  little  stock  in  the  book. 
Distributed  free  of  charge  by  the  thousand,  the  volume 
did  not  create  in  a  single  instance  any  special  excite- 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  359 

ment,  nor  anywhere  the  least  open  act  of  violence. 
A  hundred  years  ago  its  inflammatory  taunts, 
hurled  broadcast  over  the  land,  would  have  made 
the  streets  of  the  Ghetto  flow  with  blood  and  set 
firebrands  loose  over  the  domain.  Now  they  failed 
entirely  to  have  any  effect.  It  bore,  however,  one 
strong  result.  Among  the  Jews  themselves  it  created 
a  spirit  of  caution  and  watchfulness  that  manifested 
itself  in  various  ways.  Like  a  burned  child  which 
fears  the  fire,  they  set  to  work  in  various  places  and 
by  several  means  tried  to  avert  danger.  Unfor- 
tunately for  them,  there  was  now  not  a  single  promi- 
nent strong  leader  among  the  rabbins.  So  they 
had  recourse  to  the  large  number  of  eminent  physi- 
cians of  the  race,  who  in  many  instances  were  em- 
ployed in  their  profession  by  kings,  princes  and 
nobles ;  and  being  generally  highly  esteemed  by  most 
patrons  and  profoundly  learned  withal,  effective 
efforts  were  made  in  this  direction  to  deprive  Pfeffer- 
korn's  efforts  of  any  lasting  impression.  In  this  the 
Hebrews  were  largely  assisted  by  fair-minded  and 
generous  Christians.  These  had  very  little  use  for 
the  resurrection  of  old  hatred  and  the  prejudices  of 
a  baptized  renegade.  It  was  publicly  declared  in 
many  places  that  the  thief  Pfefferkorn  was  a  worth- 
less subject,  undeserving  belief.  So  it  became  mani- 
fest that  it  required  another  and  more  effective  policy 
to  get  legal  possession  of  the  Talmud.  This  might  be 
quickly  achieved  if  the  reigning  and  easily  impressed 
German  Emperor  Maximilian  could  be  won  over  to 
such  purpose.  In  this  direction,  then,  were  turned 
immediately  all  our  now  forthcoming  efforts.  Our 
protege,  with  the  superabundance  of  enthusiasm 
evinced  by  most  new  converts,  a  heaven -towering  au- 
dacity, furnished  with  plenty  of  funds  and  provided 
with  letters  of  introduction  from  high-standing  parties 
and  credentials  of  the  most  superior  order,  went 


360  BEN  BEOR. 

forth  on  the  errand  of  seeking  an  audience  with  His 
Imperial  Majesty,  now  in  camp  before  Padua,  at  war 
with  the  Italian  provinces.  Pfeiferkorn  had  full  in- 
structions how  to  proceed  preliminary  to  the  main 
issue,  and  he  left  his  dear  wife  behind,  to  the  great 
gratification  of  her  many  tonsured  admirers. 

Section  IV. — The  Abbess  of  Clarissa, 

A  powerful  ally  was  needed  to  act  upon  the  busy 
Emperor.  Engaged  in  a  long  and  serious  war 
against  the  Venetians,  his  attention  could  not  be 
directed  to  a  book  affair,  and  that  a  Hebrew  book, 
except  through  the  potent  intercession  of  some  great 
influence.  The  only  available  person  for  such  pur- 
pose was  his  sister  Kunigunde,  the  Abbess  of  Clarissa, 
to  whom  he  was  fondly  attached. 

This  princess  had  a  very  strange  career.  In  the 
days  of  her  budding  girlhood  she  had  been  beautiful 
and  bright,  but  also  extravagantly  romantic  and 
wayward.  Kings  and  princes  came  to  pay  her  court 
and  sue  for  her  hand  and  heart.  The  idol  of  her 
father,  the  Emperor  Frederick  III.,  who  lavished  the 
tender est  paternal  love  and  his  boundless  wealth 
upon  her,  she  nearly  broke  his  heart  by  concluding  a 
clandestine  marriage  with  his  arch-enemy,  the  Bava- 
rian Grand  Duke  Albert  of  Munich.  An  intense 
rivalry  existed  between  these  two  monarchs.  The 
important  city  of  Regensburg  had  lately  been  acquired 
by  the  crafty  Wittleberg,  and  now  he  received  with 
the  hand  of  the  princess,  as  her  dowry,  the  not  in- 
considerable territory  of  Tyrol  and  a  big  slice  of 
Upper  Austria.  The  Emperor  was  so  wroth  over 
the  perfidious  treachery,  that  he  immediately  declared 
war  against  his  hated  son-in-law,  and  marched  a  large 
army  to  the  boundaries  of  the  Bavarian  domain.  By 
the  most  prudent,  wise  and  persistent  intercession  of 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  3d 

the  Crown  Prince  Maximilian  peace  was  restored, 
and  even  a  reconciliation  between  the  angry  parties 
effected.  But  the  cruel,  filial  wrong  preyed  so  on 
the  father's  heart  that  he  soon  sickened  and  died. 
Nor  did  Albert  enjoy  his  triumph  long.  An  in- 
sidious malady  sapped  his  robust  health,  and  after  a 
lingering  and  painful  illness,  death  at  last  came  to  his 
relief.  This  double  bereavement  affected  the  young 
widow  to  such  an  extent  that  she  became  melancholy 
and  intensely  religious.  Remorse  and  grief  soon 
caused  her  to  abjure  the  ways  of  the  world,*  and  she 
took  the  veil  as  a  nun  in  the  Franciscan  cloister.  As 
a  high  and  influential  personage,  and  by  her  devotion 
and  zeal,  she  was  soon  elevated  to  the  position  of 
Abbess  of  the  Clarissans,  the  most  important  of  all 
the  many  branches  of  the  sister  order.  In  this 
capacity  she  became  a  zealous  devotee,  fanatically 
laboring  toward  extending  the  scope  and  power  of 
the  Catholic  religion.  This  bigoted  woman  was 
selected  as  the  fittest  instrument  to  advance  the  cause 
of  Pfefferkorn.  By  our  letters  of  recommendation 
he  readily  gained  admittance  to  her  presence.  It  was 
to  her  a  singular  spectacle :  a  former  Jew  came  to 
revile  his  race.  But  it  gained  for  his  statements  all  the 
more  credence.  This  was  the  cunning  device  of  the 
Dominicans  in  their  shrewd  calculations  when  sending 
forth  the  convert.  He  now  painted  to  her  in  glow- 
ing language  how  Christ,  the  Virgin,  the  Apostles, 
Saints  and  the  whole  Church  were  secretly  despised 
and  hated  by  the  blasphemous  tribe,  and  that  they 
were  encouraged  in  and  taught  such  disgraceful  acts 
by  the  pestiferous  contents  of  their  rabbinical  books. 
These,  he  loudly  declared,  ought  to  be  utterly  annihi- 
lated as  a  shame  and  discredit  to  the  holy  faith,  and 
the  sooner  the  last  copy  thereof  was  confiscated  and 
burned,  the  better  for  the  faithful.  He  had  no  diffi- 
culty in  stirring  up  the  sensitive  feelings  of  this 


3G2  BEN  BEOR. 

easily  impressed  devotee,  and  she  furnished  him 
without  delay  a  strong  letter  by  her  own  hand  ad- 
dressed to  her  imperial  brother.  In  this  she  pitifully 
implored  him  to  make  an  end,  by  his  sovereign 
authority,  of  the  sacrilegious  calumniations  of  the 
Israelites,  and  command  the  burning  forthwith  of  the 
Talmud  and  Prayer  books.  Otherwise,  she  pointedly 
added,  the  sins  of  the  heretics  committed  daily  in  his 
realm  would  fall  upon  his  august  head.  Fortified 
with  this  powerful  missive,  the  truculent  apostate 
dcpartedyand  reached  in  safety,  after  several  days,  the 
camp  of  the  Emperor. 

Section  V. — In  Camp. 

Everything  was  hurry  and  bustle  among  the  sol- 
diers. Several  battles  had  recently  been  fought. 
Another  was  preparing.  The  busy,  anxious  ar- 
rangements for  the  coming  fray  were  in  full  pro- 
gress. The  hardest  worker  in  the  army  was  the 
Emperor,  who  in  person  superintended  the  auspi- 
cious task  in  hand,  mapped  out  the  plans,  directed 
the  movements,  and  kept  posted  concerning  every 
detail  appertaining  to  the  affairs  of  the  campaign. 
At  headquarters,  the  Emperor  was  surrounded  by  the 
gaudily  attired  members  of  his  staff,  many  of  whom 
were  aged  men,  much  battle-scarred,  and  wearing 
plentifully  the  decorations  and  insignia  of  bravery 
and  merit  upon  their  uniform.  They  all  stood  bare- 
headed and  in  respectful  but  dignified  attitude  before 
their  master.  His  majesty  sat  behind  a  long  table 
littered  with  maps,  books  &nd  papers.  He  was 
dressed  in  the  uniform  of  the  Honvets,  his  favorite 
regiment,  the  well-becoming  "tchacko"  on  his  head, 
a  single  large  golden  cross  upon  his  breast.  He 
argued,  what  seemed  an  important  point,  with 
several  of  his  generals.  A  liveried  footman  entered 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  3C3 

and  announced  the  arrival  of  a  special  courier  from 
his    august    sister.     Pfefferkorn    was    ushered    in, 
and  with  an  obsequious  bow  handed  the  autograph 
letter  of  the  Abbess  to  the  Emperor.     He  threw  a 
sharp  side-glance  at  the  unexpected  visitor.     The 
Kaiser's  face  showed  that  he  was  not  too  favorably 
impressed  with  the  appearance  of  his  new  guest.    He 
then  broke  the  seal  and  read  the  missive.    Mumbling 
something  between  his  lips  about  trifles  to  bother 
him  at  such  an  important  moment,  he  beckoned  to 
one  of  the  secretaries  and  instructed  him  to  make 
out  a  mandate  in  compliance  with  his  sister's  request. 
A  wave  of  the  hand  dismissed  that  functionary  and 
the  convert.     These  two  retired  together.     Before 
evening  the  imperial  rescript,  duly  signed  and  sealed, 
was  in  Pfefferkorn's  pocket.     Maximilian  did   not 
even  read  the  document,  but  quickly  scrawled  his 
name  thereto    and    ordered    it    to  be   sealed.     He 
was  sure  his  affectionately  loved  and  pious  sister 
would  not  ask  anything  unfair  and  unreasonable. 
The  document  read : — "  By  the  grace  of  God  : — We, 
Emperor  Maximilian,  hereby  authorize  our  well-be- 
loved subject,  Johannes  Pfefferkorn,  to  investigate 
throughout  our  whole  German  realm  and  its  depend- 
encies all  Hebrew  writings,  and  destroy  such  as  are 
directed  against  our  faith,  the  Holy  Catholic  Church. 
It  is  recommended  that,  in  every  instance,  the  resi- 
dent vicar  and  the  municipal  authorities  shall  be 
present  at  such  investigations.     To  our  body-vassals 
(Kammer-knechte)  the  Jews,  we  command  them  not 
to  resist  our  servant  Pfefferkorn,  but  to  bring  before 
him  all  such  writings  as  come  under  the  head  of  this 
mandate,  and  to  furnish  him  with  all  copies  ne  shall 
demand.     Signed,  Maximilian  I.,  Rex." 

AVith  this  autocratic  instrument  in  his  pocket,  the 
jubilant  renegade  returned  to  Germany.  He  was 
now  constituted  fully  the  master  over  all  Hebrew 


364  BEN   BEOR. 

literature,  arbitrarily  and  at  will  to  condemn  and 
burn  whatever  he  saw  fit  of  that  literature  in  books 
and  manuscripts.  It  was  now  no  longer  a  war  of 
killing  bodies,  but  of  the  spirit  and  the  fondly  cher- 
ished intelligence  of  a  people,  the  means  by  which 
they  had  outlived  fire  and  sword,  persecution  and 
expatriation,  and  alas!  all  this  in  the  hands  of  so 
unscrupulous  and  mercenary  a  wight  as  this  M'shu- 
met.  If  ever  the  cause  of  Israel  seemed  lost,  it 
appeared  now  to  have  come  about.  Thousands 
might  die  as  martyrs  and  the  loss  of  their  lives  be 
compensated  in  the  glory  of  their  deaths ;  treasures 
and  worldly  possessions  might  be  taken  from  them 
and  they  themselves  made  fugitives  and  outcasts; 
they  yet  could  survive  by  the  inexterminable  strength 
and  indestructible  power  of  their  inspired  literature. 
But  now  this  was  to  be  taken  from  them  also.  Well 
might  they  cry  out  in  their  deep  despair,  "I  lift  my 
eyes  to  the  heights,  unto  the  Lord,  whence  shall 
come  my  salvation." 

Section  VI.— The  First  Effort. 

The  homeward  journey  of  the  newly  created  im- 
perial commissioner  led  directly  through  the  ancient 
free  city  of  Frankfort-on-the-Main.  Here  was  one 
of  the  oldest,  best  organized,  wealthy  and  most 
influential  congregations  of  Jews  in  the  world.  A 
successful  blow  struck  at  them  would  be  a  signal 
triumph  for  the  work  in  hand.  Many  celebrated 
Talmudists  taught  here  the  contents  of  the  Mishna 
and  G'marah,  these  two  chief  parts  of  the  rabbinical 
literature.  Often  they  would  dispute  among  them- 
selves over  important,  difficult  or  doubtful  passages. 
These  arguments  they  called  a  Pilpul.  Hair-split- 
ting, sharpness  of  casuistry,  fine  display  of  logic  and 
rhetoric  and  fine  legal  knowledge  were  displayed  in 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  365 

these  mental  tournaments.  Such  a  place,  set  aside 
especially  and  often  maintained  by  the  pious  charity 
of  individuals,  was  called  Beth  Hamidrash,  some- 
times, too,  a  Klause.  There  were  very  few  houses 
in  which  a  copy  of  the  Old  Testament  or  a  complete 
Talmud  might  not  be  found.  The  veriest  peddler, 
who  groaned  all  day  under  the  burden  of  his  heavy 
pack,  when  returning  tired  out  in  the  evening  from 
daily  labors,  would,  notwithstanding,  never  retire 
before  occupying  himself  for  some  time  with  the 
study  of  the  Law.  In  the  fall  of  the  year  1509 
A.  D.,  on  the  evening  of  Friday,  September  28th, 
when  the  joyful  feast  of  Booths  commenced,  an 
immense  concourse  of  worshippers  were  congregated 
in  the  old  Shuhl  (synagogue).  The  cantor,  a  widely 
celebrated  singer,  was  just  about  to  chant  the  open- 
ing song  of  the  Sabbath  (Ixxxviii.),  "Come,  let  us 
sing  unto  the  Lord,  let  us  shout  to  the  rock  of 
our  salvation."  At  that  moment  the  central  portal 
of  the  edifice  was  violently  thrown  open  by  a  gruff- 
looking  halberdier  in  his  official  uniform.  He 
pounded  with  his  weapon  rudely  on  the  floor  and 
cried  out  in  commanding  tones,  "  In  the  name  of 
the  Emperor! "  Now  Pfefferkorn,  attired  in  a  self- 
assumed  garb  of  a  high  governmental  dignitary, 
accompanied  by  two  well-known  city  councillors 
and  three  priests,  entered  the  temple  and  advanced 
as  far  as  the  bihma,  enjoying  to  its  full  extent  the 
consternation  and  dismay  pictured  upon  the  scared 
and  surprised  worshippers.  He  then  commanded, 
by  behest  of  his  majesty,  that  every  one  present 
bring  forth  their  prayer-books  and  deposit  them  at 
the  foot  of  the  holy  shrine.  This  done  under  a  great 
deal  of  commotion,  he  next  enjoined  them  that  they 
must  bring  at  early  morning  to  the  city  hall  all 
their  Hebrew  books  of  whatsoever  description,  the 
parchment  scrolls  of  the  Law  alone  excepted;  head- 


366  BEN  BEOR. 

monished  them  that  concealment  or  withholding  a 
single  copy  would  be  visited  with  severe  punishment. 
He  lastly,  with  a  cunning  sneer,  peremptorily  for- 
bade them  the  observance  of  the  now  ushered-in 
feast.  Against  this  last  wicked  and  frivolous  tyranny 
the  Catholic  clergymen  present  violently  protested. 
They  prevailed  upon  the  would-be  commissioner  to 
postpone  the  delivery  of  the  books  till  the  next 
Monday  and  to  permit  them  the  celebration  of  their 
holidays.  Then  the  intruders  departed.  But  the 
Jews  took  courage.  Immediately  after  service, 
during  which  many  tears  flowed  in  invocation  to 
the  God  of  their  fathers  for  help  in  this  hour  of 
need,  they  convened  in  general  meeting.  Brave 
words  were  spoken.  They  would  no  longer  permit 
themselves  to  be  unresistingly,  as  heretofore,  plun- 
dered, robbed  or  slain  like  patient  lambs  led  to  the 
shambles.  A  committee,  consisting  of  the  venerable 
Rabbi,  the  Presidents  (Parnassim),  and  five  of  the 
most  influential  and  widely-known  members,  were 
appointed  to  appear  on  the  next  day  before  the 
Mayor  and  City  Council  to  protest  against  the  wan- 
ton insults  offered  in  the  house  of  worship,  to  demand 
recognition  of  their  rights,  granted  them  under  seal 
by  Emperors  and  Popes,  securing  free  exercise  of 
their  religion,  which  included,  as  they  claimed,  the 
secure  possession  of  their  books.  They  should  insist 
upon  postponement  at  least  of  any  arbitrary  act 
against  them,  granting  sufficient  time  for  an  appeal 
by  special  deputies  to  the  Emperor  and  the  German 
Federal  Conclave  (Bundesrath).  That  same  night  a 
mounted  courier  was  riding  at  breakneck  speed  on 
the  road  from  Frankfort  to  Mentz.  He  had  been 
despatched  by  the  Catholic  clergy  to  their  newly- 
elected  archbishop,  His  Eminence  Uriel  von  Gem- 
mingen.  The  messenger  bore  documents  relating 
in  full  the  violent  proceedings  in  the  synagogue  and 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  367 

requesting  orders  from  the  superior  what  position 
the  Church  should  take  in  these  extra-judicial  trans- 
actions. A  full  meeting  of  the  city  authorities 
could  not  be  held  till  next  Monday.  Then  the 
committee  of  the  Hebrews  were  permitted  to  appear 
before  them.  The  Rabbi  was  their  spokesman.  It 
is  a  pity  that  history  has  not  preserved  the  name  of 
that  worthy.  He  pleaded  so  pathetically,  urged  so 
forcibly,  and  remonstrated  so  eloquently,  that  the 
Council  would  have  unanimously  decided  in  his 
favor,  but  Pfeiferkorn  threw  the  mandate  of  the 
Emperor  before  them  and  demanded  obedience  to 
the  writ  and  execution  of  its  behest.  There  was  no 
alternative  left,  they  must  command  the  confisca- 
tion of  the  books.  At  that  moment  the  three  clergy- 
men and  their  dust-begrimed  courier  entered.  The 
archbishop,  under  his  hand  and  seal,  had  ordered  a 
stay  of  proceedings,  and  summoned  PfefFerkorn  with 
the  official  document  to  his  presence.  The  oppres- 
sive measure  for  the  time  was  foiled.  The  Council 
was  glad  to  have  the  disagreeable  business  taken  off 
their  hands.  Not  one  of  them  was  in  favor  of  wag- 
ing war  against  books  or  recommencing  distasteful 
hostilities  against  a  race  whose  industry  and  honor- 
able conduct  greatly  enhanced  the  prosperity  of  the 
loved  city.  To  their  credit,  it  is  recorded,  they  went 
further.  One  of  their  number  was  commissioned  to 
accompany  the  Jewish  delegation  to  Padua,  and  aid, 
by  petition  and  remonstrance,  the  immediate  revoca- 
tion of  that  obnoxious  edict. 

Pfeiferkorn  dared  not  ignore  the  hierarchical  sum- 
mons. He  started  next  day  on  his  journey  to  Mentz. 

Section  VII. — Before,  the  Archbishop. 

A  new  policy  had  been  inaugurated  at  the  See  of 
the  high  episcopacy  of  Mentz  since  the  death  of  the 


368  BEN   BEOR. 

old  bishop  and  the  entrance  to  office  of  his  succes- 
sor, Uriel  von  Gemmingen.  By  special  decree  from 
the  Vatican,  his  dignity  had  been  raised  to  an  arch- 
bishopric, with  a  largely  extended  diocese.  The 
incumbent  was  a  favorite  and  friend  of  the  Pope,  to 
whom  he  had  endeared  himself  by  kindness  of  heart, 
loftiness  of  views  concerning  the  high  ministerial 
profession,  and  profound  knowledge,  not  only  in 
theological  lore,  but  also  the  classic  languages  and 
belles-lettres.  There  was  no  room  in  the  mind  and 
feelings  in  such  a  humane  character  for  any  gross 
prejudice  or  persecuting  intolerance,  who,  in  the 
scope  of  his  ministration,  was  both  father  and  priest. 
The  people,  especially  the  W7omen  and  children, 
idolized  the  strong,  fine,  apostolic-looking,  good- 
natured  man  whose  many  kind  deeds,  unbounded 
charity  and  ready  helpfulness  on  all  occasions  were 
in  the  mouth  of  everybody.  It  was  a  pathetic  sight 
to  find  the  little  toddlers  run  up  to  him  when  passing 
through  the  streets,  and,  after  reverently  making  the 
sign  of  the  cross,  kiss  his  hands  affectionately.  He 
soon  knew  them  all  by  name,  and  had  a  kind  or  jovial 
word  as  he  laid  his  fingers  benignantly  on  one  or  the 
other's  head.  Among  these  children  there  were  fre- 
quently, also,  some  of  the  black-haired,  dark-eyed 
Hebrews,  who  were  treated  with  the  same  impartial 
affection  as  the  rest,  although  none  of  them  would 
cross  themselves  on  their  approach.  There  was 
especially  one  boy,  Isaac,  the  son  of  a  poor  widow, 
in  whom  the  bishop  had  taken  a  deep  interest.  Re- 
peatedly he  was  heard  to  say  that  the  ideal  image  of 
the  child  Jesus  came  to  his  mind  when  looking  upon 
that  little  fellow.  Once,  indeed,  he  had  visited  the 
mother  and  offered  to  adopt  Isaac  and  have  him 
educated  if  she  would  permit  him  to  be  baptized. 
But  against  this  the  woman  protested  with  tears. 
"Our  religion,"  she  said,  "is  all  that  is  left  us,  and 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  369 

your  Eminence  is  too  good  and  generous  to  take  the 
last  we  own."  "  Well,  well,"  he  responded,  "  I  did 
not  mean  to  hurt  your  feelings ;  we  will  see  by-and- 
bye  what  can  be  done  for  little  Isaac."  The  very 
next  day  after  this  occurrence,  the  message  from 
Frankfort  was  brought  to  him  at  early  morning. 
Its  contents  were  a  shock  to  his  sensibilities.  This 
man  loved  learning ;  a  book  to  him  was  almost  like 
a  human  being.  He  had  studied  a  little  Hebrew, 
and  what  he  knew  of  it  made  him  revere  that  lan- 
guage. Was  it  not  the  words  and  accents  in  which 
his  dear  Saviour  had  conversed  and  preached  that 
eloquent,  immortal  Sermon  on  the  Mount  ?  And 
here  came  a  villanous  interloper  who  had  possessed 
himself  of  a  decree  by  a  thoughtless  Emperor  to 
burn  a  literature  which  his  friend  and  teacher  Obadja 
Sforno  had  assured  him  was  a  treasure-store  of 
thought  and  intelligence,  which  the  Christians,  when- 
ever able  to  understand  it,  would  prize  as  highly  as 
the  Jews.  Such  uncouth  vandalism  went  entirely 
against  the  grain  of  his  disposition.  And  then  the 
studied  insult  to  a  people  while  engaged  in  worship- 
ping God  !  His  innate,  true  piety  revolted  against 
the  barbarous  attempt.  He  felt  keenly,  too,  the 
slight  implied  at  least  to  his  official  dignity  for  the 
Emperor  to  arbitrarily  interfere  with  the  ecclesiasti- 
cal aifairs  of  the  diocese,  never  heretofore  exercised 
except  by  the  Church.  So  it  did  not  take  him  long  to 
issue  his  peremptory  decree  of  stay  of  proceedings, 
demanding  the  presence  of  the  imperial  mandate 
and  its  bearer.  When  Pfefferkorn  at  last  arrived, 
his  unprepossessing  appearance  and  coarse  nasal 
jargon,  none  of  which  the  holy  water- of  baptism  had 
been  able  to  wash  away,  impressed  the  genial  prelate 
very  unfavorably.  On  examining  the  official  docu- 
ment, it  was  seen  at  the  first  glance  that  it  had  been 
issued  fatally  defective,  bearing  neither  the  name  of 


370  BEN  BEOR. 

the  place  where,  nor  a  date  when,  promulgated. 
This  was  pointed  out  to  the  crestfallen  renegade ;  he 
was  told  that  such  illegalities  would  give  to  the 
persecuted  subjects  good  cause  for  resistance.  These 
important  omissions  must  be  remedied  before  any 
further  action  dared  to  be  attempted.  Pfeiferkorn 
agreed  to  return  to  Padua  to  have  these  errors  cor- 
rected. The  archbishop  would,  however,  agree  to 
no  active  participation  in  the  matter,  except  on 
stipulation  that  the  Emperor  should  appoint  three 
learned,  truthful,  conscientious  and  impartial  com- 
missioners, to  whom  should  be  entrusted  the  task, 
as  experts,  to  investigate  and  search  all  Hebrew 
books  and  writings  suspected  as  irreverent,  blas- 
phemous or  dangerous  to  the  Christian  religion,  and 
nothing  should  be  done  until  the  official  opinion  of 
these  commissioners  was  in  possession  of  the  emperor. 
The  proposition  was  so  reasonable,  equitable,  and 
advanced  with  such  a  persistent  tone  of  high  authority, 
that  it  was  fully  accepted.  The  members  of  that 
commission  were  then  agreed  upon.  The  archbishop 
nominated  his  renowned  and  learned  friend,  the 
Professor  Johannes  Eeuchlin,  a  great  theological 
and  linguistic  scholar  of  European  reputation.  Pfef- 
ferkorn  nominated  himself  and  Victor  von  Karben. 
These  three  were  subsequently  confirmed  by  the 
Emperor,  who,  however,  added  Hochstratten  and 
Von  Gemmingen  as  authorized  commissioners,  ap- 
pointing also  the  Universities  of  Paris,  Mentz, 
Erfurth  and  Heidelberg  to  participate  in  the  Talmud 
investigation.  These  negotiations  took  nearly  two 
weeks.  A  journey  of  Pfeiferkorn's  to  Cologne  for 
consultation  with  Hochstratten  became  necessary 
in  order  that  all  the  proposed  measures  be  sanctioned 
and  approved.  Meanwhile,  the  Emperor  had  found 
time,  pressed  by  many  high-standing  personages,  to 
give  audience  to  the  Frankfort  deputation.  It  con- 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  371 

sisted,  in  behalf  of  the  Jews,  of  two  powerful  advo- 
cates, both  well  and  favorably  known  to  Maximilian, 
Jonathan  Levy  Zion  and  Jacob  Triest.  They  were 
greatly  aided  by  the  imperial  chamberlain,  Goldecker. 
The  easily  swayed  and  readily  convinced  Emperor 
recognized  that  he  had  acted  in  too  great  haste.  It 
was  obvious  that  he  was  inclined  to  revoke  the 
mandate.  But  Pfefferkorn  appeared  again  with 
another  letter  from  dear  sister  Kunigunde,  more 
devoutly  sanctimonious  than  even  the  first,  conjuring 
her  high  and  potent  brother  not  to  shame  all  Chris- 
tianity any  longer  by  the  existence  of  such  treason- 
able Hebrew  books.  The  document,  now  rectified, 
remained  in  power.  The  Talmud  must  be  confis- 
cated. But  it  was  further "  ordered  that  nothing 
should  be  done  until  the  imperially  appointed  com- 
missioners had  rendered  their  verdict.  The  preser- 
vation or  burning  of  the  books  hung  henceforth  in 
the  scale  balanced  by  the  learned  judges.  His 
Eminence  Von  Gemmingen  was  authorized  as 
commissioner  to  proceed  with  the  confiscation  and 
store  the  corpus  delicti  safely  with  the  authorities  in 
Frankfort.  The  distasteful  task  had  to  be  executed, 
and  within  a  week  from  the  receipt  of  the  rescript 
the  bonded  warehouses  of  the  free  city  were  filled 
with  libraries  of  rabbinical  writings.  All  eyes  were 
now  directed  upon  Professor  Reuchlin,  the  acknowl- 
edged chief  of  the  learned  Junta,  andanxious  curiosity 
awaited  patiently  for  his  verdict. 

Section  VIII. — Johannes  JReuchlin. 

There  are  as  many  species  of  heroism  in  this 
world  as  there  are  avenues  to  display  them.  Unfor- 
tunately, military  genius,  with  its  brilliant  and 
ostentatious  achievements,  so  absorbs  the  admiring 
attention  of  mankind  as  to  throw  every  other  act  of 


372  BEN  BEOR. 

distinguished  merit  in  the  shade.  A  thousand 
monuments  of  marble  and  bronze  immortalize  the 
bloody  conquests  of  the  sword,  where  one  laurel- 
wreathed  shaft  commemorates  a  victory  of  the  mind. 
And  yet  have  the  peaceful  labors  of  the  brain 
wrought  greater  and  more  lasting  good  for  the  race 
than  all  the  conqueror's  violent  handiwork.  It  is 
the  thoughtful  student,  burning  the  midnight  oil, 
solving  some  intellectual  problem,  who  has  contri- 
buted more  successfully  to  the  true  civilization  of 
mankind  than  all  the  infantry,  cavalry  and  artillery 
of  the  gory  battlefields. 

Such  a  hero  we  meet  in  his  dingy  study,  poring 
over  tomes  of  classic  lore  at  a  late  hour  when  most 
of  his  fellow-citizens  of  Trier  are  wrapt  in  sleep. 
Itis  Professor  Johannes  Reuchlin,the  lately-appointed 
commissioner  for  deciding  a  great  and  highly-import- 
ant controversy,  which  fiercely  agitates  the  whole 
thinking  world.  In  all  Christendom  he  wras  the 
only  man  supremely  fitted  for  the  ponderous  task. 
Foremost,  the  irreproachable  integrity  of  his  char- 
acter, sterling  morality  that  valued  truth  above  all 
worldly  consideration,  with  a  mild  and  tender  dis- 
position, and  yet  deeply  sensitive  to  praise  or  blame. 
Such  a  man  could  be  implicitly  relied  upon  for 
impartiality  and  honest  convictions.  But  what 
made  him  so  superlatively  fit  for  the  work  assigned 
consisted  in  the  singular  fact  of  being  the  only 
European  Gtntile  scholar  who  possessed  a  profound 
knowledge  of  the  Hebrew  biblical  and  rabbinical 
language.  True,  he  had  acquired  most  of  this  late 
in  life,  but  with  the  persistence  of  an  enthusiast  and 
the  tenacity  of  a  lover,  he  had  never  rested  until  the 
goal  was  attained.  This,  under  the  prevailing  cir- 
cumstances, was  a  herculean  undertaking.  There 
was  not  to  be  found  among  all  his  learned  confreres 
even  an  elementary  teacher.  In  the  great  libraries 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  373 

there  existed  no  works  for  his  instruction.  But  the 
desire  to  learn  the  "  Holy  Word"  burned  in  his  soul. 
It  became  a  passion.  He  had  arrived  already  at 
the  age  of  manhood.  By  this  time  his  presence  was 
required  at  the  court  of  the  aged  Frederic  III.  at 
Linz  in  Austria.  Here  he  found  an  eminent  He- 
braist, the  imperial  Jewish  physician,  Count  Jacob 
Loans,  and  placed  himself  at  the  feet  of  this  profoundly 
learned  man,  commencing  at  the  age  of  thirty-five 
to  con  the  "  Aleph  Beth.7'  But  the  pupil  was  a  born 
linguist.  In  Latin  and  Greek  he  rivalled  the  Italian 
savants,  and  excelled  them,  to  the  astonishment  of 
his  contemporaries,  in  eloquence  of  diction  and  ver- 
satility of  expression.  To  the  wonderment  of  his 
teacher,  he  mastered  the  difficult  intricacies  of  the 
Semitic  tongue  in  an  astonishingly  short  time,  and 
soon  was  able  to  read  the  Pentateuch  and  the  rest 
of  the  Scriptures  in  their  original  versions,  no  less 
advancing  rapidly  to  use  and  understand  the  exe- 
getic  commentators.  A  new  light  broke  upon  him. 
Never  before  had  he  been  able  to  comprehend  so 
completely  the  profound  legal  depth  of  the  Mosaic 
legislation.  Now  there  blazoned  upon  him,  in  the 
radiant  light  of  a  new  and  extended  horizon,  the 
eloquence  of  Isaiah,  the  incomparable  poetry  of  the 
Psalms,  the  compact  wisdom  of  the  Proverbs,  and 
the  sublimity  of  Job.  It  was  to  him,  he  repeatedly 
stated,  as  if  a  blind  man  had  been  brought  to  light. 
Then  he  delved  with  the  same  eagerness  into  the 
rabbinical  writings.  Like  an  ambitious  schoolboy, 
who  by  untiring  efforts  has  solved  some  difficult 
lesson,  entering  the  labyrinth  of  the  Talmud,  so  try- 
ing even  for  the  acute  native  mind,  he  walked 
through  it  as  if  it  were  a  garden  around  the  king's 
palace.  When  he  came  to  the  writings  of  Maimon- 
ides,  the  very  existence  of  which  he  barely  knew, 
his  mind  at  first  became  like  one  dazed.  Here  was 


374  BEN  BEOR. 

a  moral  and  ethical  philosophy  to  which  even  that 
of  his  idolized  Aristotle  must  stand  in  the  shade. 
Every  lesson  to  him  was  a  rapture.  At  last  he  tried 
his  hand  at  the  mysteries  and  mysticism  of  the 
Cabalah.  There,  however,  his  clear  mind  strayed 
in  the  effort  of  forcing  the  confused  and  confusing 
norms  and  forms  to  Christiology.  Many  precious 
hours,  afterwards  sorely  regretted,  he  wasted  in  try- 
ing to  find  the  En  Sof  (cause  of  causes)  by  a  soph- 
istic interpretation  of  the  Hebrew  name  of  Jesus 
(Joshua).  But  he  soon  got  over  these  vagaries,  and 
with  renewed  interest  continued  the  absorbing  labors 
of  his  love  in  their  legitimate  channels. 

One  other  great  influence  was  exerted  casually  by 
his  connection  with  so  excellent  and  exemplary  a 
teacher.  The  meetings  of  these  two  spiritually 
rejated  men  took  place  generally  in  the  house  of 
Doctor  Loans.  It  was  unavoidable  for  the  professor 
not  to  come  in  contact  with  the  family,  which  con- 
sisted of  a  wife,  a  son,  who  studied  with  the  father 
for  the  medical  profession,  and  a  young  daughter, 
nearly  twelve  years  old.  The  domestic  life  which 
he  found  here  was  another  revelation  to  him.  From 
earliest  youth  he  had  imbibed  the  dislike  and  preju- 
dice prevalent  against  the  Semites,  especially  among 
the  higher  class  of  citizens.  Forgetting  that  the 
blood  of  Abraham,  Moses  and  Christ  flowed  in  the 
veins  of  these  pariahs,  whom  a  thousand  years  of 
most  cruel  hatred  had  deteriorated  from  noblest 
manhood  and  womanhood  to  what  they  were  generally 
now,  a  class  of  hucksters  and  peddlers,  subservient 
and  apparently  slavish  and  submissive,  never  aware 
that  there  was  secretly  stored  away  in  their  hearts  a 
great  share  of  that  nobility  which  made  them  fit  ob- 
jects for  divine  intercommunion.  Reuchlin  had  for- 
gotten himself  so  far,  in  an  unguarded  moment, 
when  already  at  the  age  of  maturity,  to  publish  a 


HISTORICAL,  PHANTASMAGORIA.  375 

sarcastic  and  bitter  tirade  against  them.  Later  in  life 
he  was  to  sadly  regret  this.  Now  that  he  could 
make  allowance  for  the  physiological  influences 
which  centuries  of  unprecedented  sufferings  and  woe 
must  have  exercised  upon  the  status  of  these  people, 
it  became  a  marvel  to  him  that  they  had  not  long 
ago  succumbed  altogether,  socially,  physically  and 
spiritually.  Is  it  a  wonder  that  he  was  thrown 
from  his  poise  altogether  when  coming  in  contact 
and  intimate  relation  with  a  higher  and  better  type 
of  a  nationality  so  much  maligned  and  misrepre- 
sented ?  Here,  in  first  instance,  was  Dr.  Loans  him- 
self, who  had  climbed  the  ladder  of  the  medical 
profession  to  its  utmost  height.  He  was  trusted 
and  relied  upon  implicitly  concerning  the  health  of 
the  Emperor  and  family,  the  members  of  the  court 
and  princes  and  nobles,  and  consulted  as  an  authority 
by  his  medical  brethren.  To  be  thus  distinguished 
would  have  been  enough  honor  for  a  man  in  his 
generation.  But  he  was  also  a  celebrated  literati, 
who  read  and  understood  the  Greek,  Latin,  Arabic 
and  Sanscrit  dialects.  The  German  language  he 
spoke  and  wrote  fluently  and  eloquently,  but,  to  cap 
the  climax,  he  \vas  acknowledged  the  greatest  living 
Hebraist,  to  whom  even  the  rabbis  referred  theo- 
logical and  ritual  questions.  With  all  this,  he  never 
lost  sight  of  being  a  most  considerate  and  loving 
husband,  a  tender  and  affectionate  father.  Strict 
in  the  fulfilment  of  his  religious  duties,  he  had 
become  a  leader  in  the  congregation.  The  poor  and 
needy  worshipped  him,  and  it  had  become  a  univer- 
sal saying  that  he  would  rather  attend  at  the  bed- 
side of  a  beggar  than  that  of  the  princelings  and 
barons.  To  all  this  must  be  added  a  behavior  at 
once  dignified,  modest  and  unassuming. 

Then  there  was  the  wife.     A  matron  of  advanced 
age  when  he  first  met  her,  time  had  but  slightly 


376  BEN  BEOR. 

effaced  her  beauty,  but  given  her  in  highest  degree 
dignity  and  womanly  graces.  Kenned,  cultured  and 
lovely,  she  was  all  in  all  to  her  husband  and  chil- 
dren ;  ever  patient,  ever  forbearing,  ever  helpful  and 
unselfish,  the  domain  of  her  household  was  blessed 
with  peace,  congeniality  and  love,  extending  to  a 
large  circle  of  friends  and  embracing  the  entire  com- 
munity of  the  poor.  The  children  were  perfect  types 
of  their  parents,  the  sunshine  of  the  family  and  the 
pride  and  hope  of  father  and  mother. 

The  intimate  friendly  relations  thus  commenced 
here  at  Lintz  continued  for  a  lifetime,  and  it  is  on 
record  that  they  remained  mutually  the  source  of 
greatest  felicity  and  ever  dear  and  cherished  remem- 
brances. 

When  the  Dominicans  accepted  Reuchlin  as  the 
chief  arbitrator  in  the  absorbing  issue  which  they 
had  so  cunningly  evoked,  they  flattered  themselves 
and  were  entirely  confident  that  the  whole  subject 
was  decided  beforehand  in  their  favor.  Was  he  not 
their  friend  and  coadjutor,  a  professor  of  Christian 
theology?  Had  he  not  in  previous  publications 
expressed  his  bitter  attitude  to  their  common  adver- 
sary ?  Were  not  all  worldly  consideration  for  honor, 
emolument  and  advancement  with  the  Emperor, 
his  sister  Kimigunde  and  the  whole  orthodox  clergy 
on  their  side  ?  Nor  had  his  name  ever  been  con- 
nected with  the  arrogant  and  impertinent  Humani- 
tarians. The  powerful  and  wide-awake  opponents 
who  styled  themselves  "  the  Obscurants  "  (Dunkel- 
manner)  might  rightly  claim  the  professor  as  their 
own.  For  the  accomplishment  of  his  work  he  had 
asked  three  months'  time,  and  this  was  cheerfully 
granted  him. 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  377 

Section  IX. — A  Short  Armistice. 

The  interim  of  ninety  days,  during  'which  the 
experts  were  to  work  out  their  official  opinions  con- 
cerning the  Talmud,  was  too  important  a  time  to  be 
lost  in  waiting  inactivity.  Pfetferkorn  sat  down, 
and  knowing  that  he  would  compromise  his  standing 
by  ignorance  were  he  to  compete  with  Reuchlin, 
wrote,  in  stead  of  an  official  opinion,  two  new  pamph- 
lets, grossly  vituperative  and  violently  assailing  his 
former  co-religionists.  He  had  the  greatest  faith  in 
the  efficacy  of  his  poisonous  pen.  The  title  of  these 
literary  efforts  were,  "The  Little  Easter-book" 
and  "  To  the  Praise  and  Honor  of  the  Emperor ." 
He  engaged  for  himself  and  wife,  as  soon  as  the 
manuscripts  could  be  printed,  to  distribute  these 
pamphlets  from  house  to  house,  and  to  read  extracts 
therefrom  in  the  public  markets  and  places.  And 
they  were  soon  off  on  their  errand,  to  the  great  regret 
of  some  of  the  younger  monks,  \vho  did  not  like  to 
be  separated  from  the  company  of  their  dear  and 
devout  friend,  Madame  Bertha.  Strange,  I  could 
never  rise  into  any  of  her  special  favors.  She  would 
treat  me  with  abject  reverence,  but  keep  me  always 
at  such  distance  that  not  even  a  familiar  word  was 
ever  spoken  between  us.  But  there  was  a  young 
dominie,  rosy,  foolish  and  flustering,  who  became  so 
enamoured  of  her  that  public  talk  and  scandal  arose. 
This  friar's  name  was  Tetzel.  It  became  necessary, 
in  order  to  stop  the  damaging  report,  to  send  him 
away  to  some  distance,  and  as  I  needed  forthwith  an 
emissary  on  some  delicate  yet  important  mission, 
and  as  he  was  otherwise  bright,  cunning  and  shrewd, 
I  got  him,  at  least  for  the  time  being,  out  of  the  way 
of  the  possible  wrath  of  the  husband,  who  pretended 
to  be  very  jealous.  I  had  watched  that  monk  since 
my  arrival  here.  The  errand  for  which  I  selected 


378  BEN  BEOR. 

him  was  just  fitted  for  the  young  rogue.  Was  it 
not  possible  to  find  among  all  the  petty  governments 
and  principalities  into  which  Germany  was  cut  up, 
one  of  the  reigning  and  powerful  princes  to  use 
the  arm  of  the  Inquisition  to  venture,  in  case 
of  great  aggravation,  to  commit  to  the  stake  some 
of  his  Jewish  subjects?  I  happened  to  pitch 
upon  the  proper  party  in  the  Elector  of  Branden- 
burg. He  had  just  succeeded  his  father  upon 
the  throne,  was  very  ambitious,  quick-tempered, 
and  blindly  passionate  when  aroused  to  anger.  Such 
a  man  would  act  violently  if  occasion  stung  him, 
and  he  was  known  to  look  with  disdain  and  dislike 
upon  his  Semitic  vassals.  To  his  residence  in 
Pomerania  I  sent  Tetzel,  with  full  instructions  for 
working  out  my  plan,  and  he  did  credit  to  his  mas- 
ter. Very  soon  the  report  came  that  the  holy  vessels 
and  golden  utensils  for  the  sacrament  had  been 
stolen  from  the  cathedral  of  Berlin.  The  robber 
had  been  caught.  My  presence  as  Grand  Inquisitor 
was  requested  to  the  scene  of  the  sacrilegious 
theft.  The  burglar  was  promised  immunity  if  he 
would  reveal  his  confederates  in  the  crime.  He 
named  several  of  the  principal  Jews,  to  whom  he 
had  sold  the  Holy  Host,  which  they,  as  he  averred, 
had  pierced  with  needles  in  his  presence.  To  his 
horror,  as  he  stated,  blood  immediately  spurted 
from  the  consecrated  wafer.  The  terrible  sight  had 
so  filled  him  with  remorse  of  the  awful  crime  that 
he  could  not  eat  or  sleep  till  he,  as  he  now  did,  made 
a  full  confession  of  the  awful  sin.  All  this  was  carried 
out  exactly  as  planned  beforehand.  The  Elector 
Joachim  I.  commanded  me  immediately  to  apply 
the  torture  and  have  the  accused  executed  at  the 
very  scene  of  the  crime.  Thirty-eight  Hebrews,  for 
the  first  time  that  any  of  their  race  ever  entered 
Berlin,  on  the  19th  of  July,  1510,  mounted  the  pyres 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  379 

erected  before  the  cathedral  and  were  burned.  Above 
the  rustle  and  the  rattle  of  the  flames  could  be  heard 
the  prayers  and  the  songs  of  the  expiring  victims, 
'keeping  up  their  courage  even  unto  the  end.  From 
the  dais  where  I  was  seated  I  could  notice  the  differ- 
ence between  the  populace  here  and  that  of  Spain. 
The  Southern  spectators,  in  fanatic  sympathy  with 
the  proceedings,  came  in  holiday  attire,  as  if  to  a 
feast  or  a  bull-fight.  They  screamed  themselves 
hoarse  with  acclamations  of  joy  and  jubilation 
as  the  flames  made  their  way  upward  and  reached 
the  doomed.  Here  the  most  appalling  silence  reigned 
at  first.  Then  curses  and  maledictions  became  audi- 
ble on  every  side.  Women  and  strong  men  fainted 
as  the  fagots  commenced  to  burn.  It  would  have 
taken  but  a  bold  leader  for  revolution  to  have  broken 
out  instantly.  The  conviction  came  upon  me 
firmly — auto  dafe's  would  not  do  among  these  Teu- 
tons. The  effect  of  this  one,  upon  which  I  had 
counted  so  much,  proved  entirely  contrary  to  my 
fond  anticipations.  Disappointed  and  chagrined,  I 
returned  with  Tetzel  to  Cologne.  Pfefferkorn  had 
kept  his  engagements.  He  had  proceeded  with  his 
^yife  and  his  books  to  Frankfort,  had  indiscrimi- 
nately distributed  the  literature,  read  portions  of  it 
publicly  in  the  beer  and  coffee  houses  and  saloons. 
A  thoughtless,  unscrupulous  priest  had  allowed  him, 
the  layman,  contrary  to  the  strict  rules  of  the  Church, 
to  mount  the  pulpit  and  harangue  the  worshippers. 
Such  unprecedented  proceedings,  however,  disgusted 
the  people  more  than  it  fired  their  hearts.  Strong 
complaints  were  made  to  the  archbishop.  Rector 
Peter  Meyer,  who  had  allowed  his  church  thus  to  be 
profaned,  had  to  do  penance  for  the  offence,  and  a 
repetition  of  the  same  was  interdicted  on  threat  of 
excommunication. 

Thus  the  auspicious  ninety  days  were  passed  and 
at  last  were  over. 


380  BEN  BEOR, 

Section  X. — Signed,  Sealed  and  Delivered. 

It  was  now  the  5th  of  October,  1510.  On  this  day 
Professor  Keuchlin  had  finished  the  task  assigned 
to  him  by  Emperor  Maximilian.  This  consisted  in 
answering  the  single  ominous  question,  "  Is  it  godly, 
praiseworthy  and  useful  to  Christianity  to  destroy 
by  fire  the  Hebrew,  especially  the  Talmudic,  litera- 
ture ?  "  The  elaborate  answer  was  a  heavy,  volum- 
inous document.  It  had  been  carefully  enclosed  in 
safe  envelopes,  sealed  with  official  seal,  addressed : 
"  For  His  Majesty  the  Emperor,  by  hand  of  His 
Eminence  the  R.  R.  Archbishop  Uriel  von  Gem- 
mingen."  Then  he  entrusted  it  to  a  special  courier, 
who  was  placed  under  oath  for  its  security  and  safe 
delivery.  Thus  it  reached  its  destination  and  was 
deposited  in  the  episcopal  office  with  the  other  docu- 
ments appertaining  to  this  subject  which  had  arrived 
also,  to  be  perused  at  the  earliest  leisure  of  his 
Eminence.  It  remained  still  sealed.  It  was  con- 
sidered high  treason  for  any  one  not  authorized  to 
break  or  even  meddle  with  the  sanctity  of  letter 
secrets.  PfefFerkorn,  who  by  appointment  had  ar- 
rived here  to  be  present  with  his  fellow-commission- 
ers, was  so  feverishly  eager  to  find  out  the  opinion 
of  Reuchlin,  found  ingress  to  the  episcopal  office 
and  opened  the  package.  He  excused  this  after- 
wards with  the  belief  that  his  official  position  under 
imperial  authority  gave  him  this  right.  He  could 
barely  trust  his  eyes  as  he  read  the  contents  of  these 
papers.  The  opinions  therein  expressed  were  abso- 
lutely stunning.  He  thought  it  necessary  to  hastily 
make  abstracts  therefrom  and  forward  them  to  his 
superior  at  Cologna. 

Here  was  a  clear  and  full  vindication  of  the  Tal- 
mud and  the  rabbinical  writings.  In  highest  terms 
of  praise  the  Commentators  were  especially  recom- 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  381 

mended  to  the  study  of  the  Christian  clergy.  These 
learned  books  were  pronounced  the  fountains  of 
truth  and  righteous  understanding.  The  philo- 
sophical and  theological  treasures  contained  in 
Hebrew  literature  were  compared  to  the  highest  and 
best  written  in  modern  or  ancient  times,  and  the 
attempt  of  destroying  such  master  works  of  almost 
inspired  thought  denounced  as  vandalism. 

Nor  did  it  stop  with  this.  The  position  and  treat- 
ment of  the  Israelites  in  his  Majesty's  realm  were 
reviewed  as  right,  justice  and  humanity  had  never 
dared  to  open  their  lips  for  a  thousand  years.  They 
were  boldly  declared  to  be  children  of  a  common 
God — nay,  German  citizens,  with  all  the  rights, 
duties  and  claims  for  protection  implied  in  this  title. 
Finally  the  doings  and  brutal  schemes  of  Pfefferkorn, 
Hochstratten  and  the  entire  order  of  the  ambitious 
Dominicans  were  exposed  as  inhuman,  unchristian, 
unpatriotic,  and  the  strongest  invectives  launched 
against  these  as  the  real  betrayers  of  Jesus. 

A  lightning  stroke  out  of  a  clear  sky  could  not 
have  stunned  the  reader  more  than  did  these  terri- 
ble, unexpected  sentences.  Had  not  at  that  moment 
the  Archbishop  entered  the  sanctum,  it  is  more  than 
likely  the  filcher  of  the  secrets  would,  in  his  first 
passion,  have  torn  the  papers.  The  prelate,  seeing  the 
strange  behavior  of  the  intruder,  and  finding,  to 
his  astonishment,  the  seal  of  the  parcel  in  his  hands 
broken,  took  the  document  from  him.  Curiosity 
being  thus  aroused,  his  Eminence  seated  himself  at 
his  writing  table  to  read  the  opinion  from  beginning 
to  end.  Pfefferkorn  stood  respectfully  aside,  but 
from  the  niche  near  the  window,  where  he  placed 
himself,  watched  like  a  tiger  its  prey,  with  eager 
gazing,  to  judge  from  the  countenance  of  his  superior 
what  impression  the  sentiments  of  Reuchlin  would 
make.  Astonishment,  delight,  actual  rapture  became 


382  BEN   BEOR. 

visible  on  the  reader's  face  as  page  after  page  was 
perused.  Several  times  he  broke  out  in  loud  accla- 
mations, such  as  "The  very  sentiments  from  my 
soul  I"  "  Bravely  done,  my  good  friend !"  When  the 
last  line  was  read,  the  archbishop  rose  from  his  seat, 
removed  the  red  skull-cap  from  his  head,  raised  the 
ivory  crucifix  hanging  from  his  girdle  to  his  mouth, 
and  then  broke  forth : — "  Thanks  to  God  that  His 
name  has  been  glorified  by  the  great  light  of  one 
of  His  faithful  servants ! " 

Crestfallen  and  dumbfounded,  the  convert  begged 
leave  to  retire.  Permission  for  this  was  given  until 
next  morning,  when  his  presence  was  required  in 
this  place.  As  he  left,  his  Eminence  followed  him 
with  a  long  look  of  detestation,  and  mumbled  to 
himself,  "I  will  keep  him  here  long  enough  to  foil 
any  of  his  mischievous  plans  ! "  Then  the  divine 
became  very  busy.  He  wrote  a  long  letter  to  the 
Emperor,  commending  in  highest  terms  Reuchlin 
and  the  Opinion,  endorsing  every  word  thereof.  Next 
he  summoned  a  visitor,  a  young  man  who  had 
arrived  the  evening  before.  He  was  a  fine,  stal- 
wart, earnest-looking  person,  clad  as  a  cavalier  of 
those  times.  Von  Gemmingen  greeted  him  with  a 
warm  shake  of  the  hand,  and  then  said,  "  Friend 
Von  Hutton,  there  is  serious  work  for  you !  It  is 
of  the  utmost  importance  that  you  ride  for  life,  and 
after  five  days,  at  the  outside,  deliver  this  package  to 
Maximilian's  own  hands.  The  sons  of  Belial,  these 
Dominicans,  will  otherwise  get  the  start  of  us,  and 
mar  what  the  divine  genius  of  Reuchlin  has  done 
for  the  honor  of  humanity,  the  Church,  and  our  Ger- 
man fatherland.  Take  it,  be  off,  and  farewell.  God 
speed  thy  errand !  " 

Toward  evening  of  the  fifth  day  the  package  was 
handed  to  the  Emperor.  He  read  the  letter  from 
the  archbishop,  and  this  was  so  pressing,  almost 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  383 

peremptory,  that  a  council  of  secretaries  was  called 
at  once  to  make  a  digest  of  the  lengthy  writings  and 
deliver  the  same  before  retiring  for  the  night.  It 
was  rather  late  when  the  scribes  returned,  but  his 
Majesty  sat  up  patiently,  and  conversing  with  the 
messenger,  became  deeply  interested  in  one  of  the 
most  remarkable  persons  of  those  times,  to  whom  he 
became  attached  henceforth  with  a  never-ending 
friendship.  Long  after  midnight  the  secretaries 
re-entered,  and  these  too,  having  become  enthusiastic 
in  the  work,  delivered  in  glowing  language  the  con- 
tents of  the  Opinion.  The  Emperor  attentively  heard 
them  through,  then  he  swore  an  oath  that  sleep 
should  not  visit  his  couch  until  this  war  against 
books  was  ended  and  his  much-wronged  subjects, 
the  Jews,  were  righted.  It  was  near  daybreak  when 
the  imperial  mandate  for  this  purpose  was  in  pos- 
session of  Von  Hutton. 

Poor,  brave  fellow  !  Fatigued  and  exhausted  as 
he  must  have  been,  at  sunrise  he  was  in  the  saddle, 
and  never  rested  until  he  stood  before  the  archbishop 
again,  delivering  the  message  of  victory. 

After  a  good  night's  rest,  the  two  friends  started 
for  Frankfort.  Immediately  on  their  arrival  there, 
the  Mayor  and  City  Council  were  summoned  for 
an  extra  session,  and  the  imperial  mandate  read  to 
them.  Within  an  houi  the  public  criers  hearlded 
the  message  through  the  streets.  The  city's  author- 
ities, greatly  relieved  of  an  onerous  task,  had  the 
books  re-delivered  to  their  rightful  owners  amidst 
great  rejoicing  of  the  whole  town.  That  same  evening 
the  Jews  en  masse  gathered  in  their  place  of  worship, 
the  "alte  Schuhl,"  and  celebrating  a  second  Purim 
for  their  deliverance,  sent  prayers  of  praise  and  thanks 
to  Heaven,  asking  fervently,  devoutly  and  full  of 
gratitude,  blessings,  prosperity  and  long  life  for 
their  exalted  friends,  the  Emperor,  Reuchlin,  the 


384  BEN  BEOR. 

Archbishop  Von  Huttou.  All  over  Germany  the 
Kaiser's  decree  was  promulgated  as  quickly  as 
copies  could  be  forwarded,  and  the  same  scenes  of 
worship  and  benediction  enacted  among  the  Israel- 
ites throughout  the  land. 

[It  is  a  stain  upon  the  Hebrew  people  that  they 
have  not  yet  gratefully  and  generously  erected  a 
monument  to  their  great  benefactor,  Reuchlin,  who 
justly  has  deserved  it  at  their  hands. — THE  EDITOR 
AND  PUBLISHER.] 

Section  XI. — Aftermath. 

It  would  be  a  great  mistake  to  believe  that  I  and 
my  order,  the  Dominicans,  took  our  so  unexpected 
defeat  passively  or  submissively.  On  the  contrary, 
every  nerve  was  strained  to  make  it  ineffective. 
From  a  comparatively  trifling  cause,  it  became  now 
a  gigantic  struggle  between  the  Orthodox  Catholics 
and  the  Humanitarians.  We,  the  former,  had, 
according  to  all  human  calculations,  the  might,  the 
power  and  the  resources  to  overthrow  at  no  distant 
period  our  momentarily  successful  adversaries. 

Pfefferkorn  was  detained  at  Mentz  on  one  pretence 
or  the  other  for  three  days.  He  was  virtually  a 
prisoner  in  the  cathedral,  and  would  not  have  been 
released  yet  but  for  my  personal  appearance  at  the 
scene.  Von  Gemmingen  told  me  openly  that  this 
man  ought  to  be  tried  for  heresy,  having,  as  a  lay- 
man and  unconsecrated,  preached  from  the  altar,  and 
that  by  right  he  should  have  been  imprisoned  for 
audaciously  breaking  the  seal  of  letters  not  addressed 
to  him.  Claiming,  however,  that  he  belonged  ex- 
clusively under  my  jurisdiction,  he  was  set  free. 
After  a  long  consultation  with  him  concerning  the 
untoward  event  which  had  happened  to  our  cause, 
he  was  off  for  Padua,  where  he  arrived  in  great  haste, 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  385 

armed  with  another  letter  from  sister  Kunigunde. 
The  missive  was  received,  but  the  Emperor  refused 
its  bearer  an  audience,  on  the  excuse  of  being  too 
busy,  and  desired  no  longer  any  worry  concerning 
matters  which  had  been  finally  adjusted.  When  he 
returned  to  Cologna,  the  new  mandate  was  already 
published  and  executed.  What  to  do  next  became 
an  enigma.  The  Universities  came,  to  our  relief. 
Copies  of  Keuchlin's  opinion  were  demanded  from 
all,  and  they  almost  unanimously  declared  it  anti- 
Catholic,  heretical,  and  dangerous  to  the  State.  The 
King  of  France  demanded,  through  his  subservient 
High  School  at  Paris,  the  public  burning  of  the  docu- 
ment and  the  immediate  trial  of  the  author  before 
the  Inquisition.  Maximilian  had  a  personal  spite 
against  his  august  brother,  and  peremptorily  forbade 
any  such  proceedings.  Both  appealed  to  the  Holy 
Father  in  Rome.  But  the  Pope,  Leo  X.,  only  lately 
elevated  to  the  see,  was  a  kind  and  liberal-minded 
vicar,  prudently  carried  their  quarrels  upon  both 
shoulders,  not  to  spoil  his  standing  with  the  two  pow- 
erful majesties.  He  appointed  a  conclave  of  cardi- 
nals, handed  over  to  them  the  whole  matter,  no  doubt 
with  the  intimation  that  there  was  no  special  hurry 
about  a  decision.  In  the  interim  a  war  of  words  in 
pamphlets  and  books,  full  of  crimination  and  re- 
crimination, flooded  the  continent.  Insults  and 
vituperations  were  heaped  upon  Reuchlin  and  the 
Jews.  The  pens  of  Gratius,  Von  Karpen  and  Pfeff- 
erkorn  were  plied  incessantly  to  stir  up  prejudices, 
enmities  and  revolts.  But  the  Professor  answered 
with  a  ponderous,  crushing  work  called  "Eye-Mir- 
ror." It  was  the  defense  of  a  wounded  lion  in  his 
own  lair,  and  every  blow  from  his  herculean  power 
shattered  an  adversary.  For  the  glaring  liberalism 
expressed  in  this  book,  which  actually  roused  Europe 
from  pit  to  dome,  I  summoned  Keuchlin,  already 


386  BEN  BEOR, 

an  aged  man,  to  appear  before  the  High  Inquisition. 
I  was  convinced  that  I  had  the  bold  intermeddler  by 
the  hip,  and  to  make  our  triumph  all  the  more 
conspicuous,  ordered  him  to  Mentz.  If  we  only 
could  condemn  the  old  reprobate,  he  should  surely 
be  burned  to  death  upon  the  pyre.  Some  of  the  most 
potent  princely  personages  protested  against  the 
proceedings,  but  all  to  no  purpose.  On  the  12th 
of  October,  1511,  to  our  surprise,  Reuchlin  with 
two  advocates  appeared  before  the  tribunal.  The 
sham  formalities  of  the  court  were  gone  through ; 
evidence  pro  and  con  was  heard ;  but  the  verdict  of 
guilty  was  announced,  and  I  had  risen  to  pronounce 
sentence.  At  that  instant  Ulrich  von  Hutton,  who 
had  been,  as  accredited  representative  of  the  arch- 
bishop, a  quiet  spectator  of  the  proceedings,  rose  in 
his  seat,  declared,  in  the  name  of  his  master,  the  ver- 
dict null  and  void,  dissolved  the  ecclesiastical  court, 
its  power  and  functions,  and  took  the  accused  by  the 
arm,  leaving  the  hall  with  him,  to  the  consternation 
of  every  member  there  assembled.  The  crowd  wait- 
ing anxiously  outside,  on  learning  the  facts  which 
had  transpired,  bodily  lifted  the  two  men  on  their 
shoulders  and  carried  them  in  triumph  through  the 
streets.  Violence  against  us  was  only  prevented  by 
an  armed  guard  sent  for  our  protection.  I  immedi- 
ately returned  disguised  and  in  great  haste  to 
Cologna. 

To  still  more  complete  our  discomfiture,  there 
appeared  at  this  time  a  series  of  caricatures,  no  one 
knowing  the  authors.  They  came  under  the  title  of 
"Obscurant  Letters."  What  reason  and  argument 
had  not  yet  fully  achieved,  ridicule  did.  The  whole 
continent  laughed,  having  their  risibles  excited  by 
the  comic  and  humorous  delineation  of  the  funny 
situations  and  the  compromised  persons.  The  tone 
of  these  epistles  was  so  serious  and  disguised  that 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  387 

at  first  we  took  them  to  be  in  our  favor,  and  thus 
duped,  took  active  and  strong  measures  for  their 
widest  distribution.  When  our  eyes  were  opened 
and  we  understood  the  reality  of  the  thing,  although 
chagrined  and  nearly  bursting  with  anger,  yet  we 
could  not  help  it — we  laughed  too,  we  had  to  laugh. 
To  me,  however,  came  the  conviction  that  a  new  era 
had  broken  upon  civilized  mankind,  and  that  if  I 
was  to  continue  in  my  mission  of  upholding  thrones 
and  altars  against  the  rights  and  liberty  of  the 
people,  more  wily  and  effective  measures  would  have 
to  be  set  into  action.  So  Hochstratten,  foiled  and 
thwarted,  after  a  few  more  years  of  useless  attempts 
concerning  the  issue  pending,  quietly  disappeared 
from  the  scene.  He  was  reported  to  have  died 
suddenly,  as  stated  by  the  malicious  friars  of  Cologne, 
from  poison  administered  at  the  hands  of  the  still 
maligned  Jews. 

The  record  of  these  affairs  would  be  incomplete 
were  it  not  to  relate  what  became  of  two  of  its  prin- 
cipal actors.  Poor  Pfefferkorn !  as  if  Nemesis  were 
at  his  heels,  he  soon  found  his  avocation  as  agitator 
against  his  own  race  gone.  From  the  companion  of 
princes  and  church  dignitaries,  he  was  leveled  down 
to  become  a  book-peddler,  vainly  trying  to  earn  a 
living  by  disposing  of  his  own  writings  to  a  world 
which  had  outgrown  such  truculent  literature.  At 
first,  after  entering  the  folds  of  the  Church,  his  influ- 
ential clerical  friends  had  obtained  for  him  from  the 
burgomaster,  as  a  reward  for  abjuring  his  creed,  a 
lucrative  position  as  overseer  in  the  hospital  and  as 
salt  inspector,  but  his  frequent  and  long  absences  at 
last  lost  him  the  place.  Financial  affairs  had  never 
been  too  flourishing  with  him,  and  the  ever-increas- 
ing extravagant  habits  of  little  Bertha  helped  greatly 
to  deplete  the  exchequer.  True,  she  received 
many  gifts  and  often  costly  presents  from  her  devoted 


388  BEN  BEOR. 

friends,  but  these  consisted  mostly  of  jewels  and 
wearing  apparel.  What  money  came  to  her  pockets 
she  stingily  shared  not  with  her  complaisant  spouse, 
but  hoarded  in  sscret  the  larger  part  as  a  nest-egg 
for  a  rainy  day.  That  much  of  Jewish  saving  pru- 
dence remained  in  her  disposition,  despite  the  new 
religious  alliances.  The  budget  record  of  Frankfort 
shows  it  in  evidence  that  the  magistrates  voted  two 
gold  guilders  to  assist  PfefFerkorn  on  his  second  expe- 
dition to  Padua.  The  home  life  of  these  two  ill- 
matched  people  became  now  hateful  and  embittered. 
The  husband  must  have  been  fully  aware  of  her 
unfaithful  and  unchaste  conduct  with  the  monks. 
As  long  as  she  appeared  devoted  to  him  and  chuck- 
lingly  boasted  in  confidence  how  she  fooled  these 
friars,  all  went  on  smoothly.  Unfortunately,  how- 
ever, she  had  for  the  first  time  in  her  life  actually 
fallen  in  love  with  the  friar  Tetzel.  Everybody  knew 
that  she  was  infatuated  with  him  and  had  become 
openly  his  mistress.  And  the  passion  was  mutual. 
The  priest  became  violently  jealous  of  her,  and  in 
one  of  these  fits  of  uncontrollable  feeling  made  her 
swear  upon  the  sacrament  that  she  would  as  soon  as 
possible  divorce  herself  from  her  husband,  with 
whose  disposition  and  habits  she  was  long  since  dis- 
gusted. Now,  however,  came  the  time  that  she  had 
to  accompany  the  old  man  on  his  huckstering  expe- 
dition, being  even  required  to  carry  some  of  the 
packages.  Life  became  to  her  a  heavier  burden 
than  all  these.  She  pined  for  the  man  she  loved, 
now  far  away.  Determined  to  carry  out  the  unholy 
vow,  it  led  to  frequent  fierce  quarrels  and  violent 
altercations.  One  evening,  after  a  long  day's  tramp, 
they  put  up  at  a  wayside  inn.  That  night,  after  they 
had  indulged  to  excess  in  intoxicating  liquor,  to  which 
they  both  had  become  habituated,  the  convert,  in 
drunken  fury  and  blind  in  his  rage,  turned  viciously 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  389 

upon  her  and  would  have  throttled  the  woman  but 
that  she  was  prepared  for  such  an  emergency.  As 
he  made  a  rush  for  his  murderous  design,  she 
drew  the  dagger  concealed  in  her  bosom  and  stabbed 
him  to  the  heart.  When  she  realized  the  desperate 
deed,  which  would  commit  her  to  the  executioner's 
axe,  her  reason  became  dethroned  and  she  grew 
violently  insane.  All  this  happened  during  a  dark 
and  stormy  night.  Next  morning  the  landlord 
found  the  murdered  corpse,  bleeding  and  stiff.  It 
created  a  great  commotion  in  the  house.  The  peo- 
ple of  a  near-by  village  were  horrified  at  the  sight  of 
a  crazed  woman  running  through  their  streets  with 
wild  shouts  and  flourishing  a  bloody  dagger  in  her 
hand.  When  at  last  they  caught  the  wretched 
creature,  she  had  to  be  shackled  hands  and  feet. 
After  a  quick  judicial  investigation,  they  immured 
her  in  a  lunatic  asylum,  where  she  soon  died  in  one 
of  her  frequently  recurring  paroxysms. 

Thus  ended  another  and  one  of  the  most  strange 
and  remarkable  periods  in  the  history  of  human 
civilization. 


PHANTASMAGORIA  XX. 

THE  REFORMATION. 

Section  I. — A  Change  of  Base. 

When  the  general  of  an  army  fails,  after  many 
brave  but  ineffectual  efforts,  to  dislodge  an  enemy,  by 
reason  of  disadvantageous  position,  he  may  think  it 
advisable  at  heavy  risks  to  move  to  a  better  vantage 
ground.  This  is  called  a  change  of  base.  Always 
involving  great  danger,  if  it  succeeds  it  may  lead  to 
immediate  victory.  As  in  the  conduct  of  armies,  so 


390  BEN  BEOR. 

in  the  prosecuting  of  some  great  civil  or  religious 
plan,  a  movement  of  this  kind  may  become  necessary. 

My  experience  during  past  centuries,  attempting 
the  subjugation  of  the  people,  had  failed  in  most 
instances  through  the  pusillanimous  conduct  of  the 
very  powers  whom  I  sought  to  benefit.  Generally 
by  some  bold  stroke  victory  might  have  perched 
upon  our  banners,  but  the  cowardly  conduct  of  my 
allies  and  friends,  who  shrank  from  the  final  con- 
summation of  the  object  to  be  attained,  made  all 
previous  efforts  futile.  True,  such  last  crushing 
acts  would  have  required  the  callous  striking  down 
of  what  maudlin  sentimentalism  called  Humanity ; 
but  what  should  they  have  cared  for  the  squirming, 
suffering,  hungry  and  bleeding  masses,  provided 
they  could  have  stridden  conquerors  forever  over 
the  heads  and  hearts  belonging  to  the  miserable 
slaves?  Nor  was  it  cowardice  alone  which  foiled  my 
ambitious  mission.  Petty  jealousies  among  the 
rulers  and  priests,  internal  dissensions  in  their  ranks, 
wasting  disunion  when  fighting  for  an  aim  and 
object,  played  greater  havoc  in  the  achievement  of 
the  goal  than  either  the  strength,  cause,  or  the  des- 
perate stubbornness  of  the  other  side. 

Defeated  along  the  whole  line  in  every  battle 
which  I  had  thus  far  fought,  should  I  give  up  the 
contest?  Should  I  see  hated  Freedom,  Right  and 
Independence  lift  up  the  despised  children  of  toil  to 
the  very  pinnacle  of  happiness,  prosperity,  intelli- 
gence and  culture  ?  Should  I  see  my  proteges  lay 
down  crowns  and  abdicate  mitres  in  fulfilment  of 
the  prophecy  of  the  cursed  Torah  and  Prophets, 
bringing  in  its  direct  wake  the  emancipation  of 
Mosaism  and  its  loathed  confessors?  Should  all 
this  come  now  in  spite  of  my  hellish  agencies,  Drink, 
Gunpowder,  Inquisition,  Blood  Accusation  and 
Intolerance,  in  spite  the  uncountable  faithful  co- 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  391 

laborers  in  the  spread  and  effect  of  either,  despite  the 
mountains  of  the  slain  and  dead  fallen  at  our  hands 
during  the  long  bloody  struggles  of  the  ages  ? 

To  abandon  my  malignity,  to  declare  myself  con- 
quered by  that  monster  called  People,  to  sue  for 
peace  from  Moses,  Elijah  and  Christ  1  It  is  too 
horrible  to  contemplate !  Once  more,  to  arms !  to 
arms !  all  ye  legions  of  hell,  all  ye  powers  of  dark- 
ness! 

There  is  a  great  crisis  at  hand  in  the  development 
of  civilization.  It  boils,  ferments  and  heaves  amidst 
the  spiritual  life  of  the  nations,  Kome  is  the  central 
point  against  which  the  storm-beaten  waves  of  the 
coming  revolution  will  dash  with  the  whole  hurricane 
of  the  age. 

The  papal  power  of  a  thousand  years,  built  up 
with  the  cement  of  uncounted  treasures,  wasted  lives 
of  hosts,  crushed  intelligence  and  thought,  must  now 
stand  the  coming  awful,  fearful  onslaught  of  rebel- 
lion. No  eye  so  blind  but  to  see  in  the  near  future 
this  coming  cataclysm,  in  which  the  long-chained 
consciences  of  men  shall  rise  against  their  tyrants. 
The  earth  will  be  turned  into  a  charnel-house,  the 
continents  into  a  blood-bath,  Europe  into  a  powder 
magazine.  Upon  the  volcanic  foundation  the  two 
giants,  Fanaticism  and  Tolerance,  will  clinch  in 
conflict  for  supremacy  in  life  or  death.  Who  will 
conquer  ? 

I  know  it  not!  but  I  clearly  comprehend  what 
must  be  my  position  in  the  struggle.  I  am  deter- 
mined to  try  henceforth  a  change  of  base  for  my 
purposes.  Playing  the  part  of  the  Lion,  I  have 
failed  to  destroy  my  opponents.  Let  me  try  the 
role  of  the  Fox,  who  in  disguise  of  friend  and  ally  will 
invade  their  own  lines  and  from  there  lead  them  with 
guile  and  cunning  to  death  and  destruction.  With 
my  powerful,  ever-present  agents  on  one  side,  myself 


392  BEN  BEOR. 

intriguing  on  the  other,  it  must  go  hard  if  we  shall 
not  crush  the  enemy  between  us. 

Section  II. — Johannes  Tdzel. 

Even  the  ever-busy  Emperor  had  learned  of  the 
base,  treacherous  and  lecherous  part  which  the  vile 
monk  Tetzel  had  played  with  Bertha  Pfefferkorn. 
In  his  great  indignation  he  had  commanded  to  drown 
the  perfidious  friar  in  the  river  Inn.  But  that  wor- 
thy preferred  a  superfluity  of  wine  to  water,  and 
prevented  the  roasting  of  the  hare  before  the  game 
was  caught.  His  powerful  friends,  the  Dominicans, 
interceded  in  his  behalf  and  he  escaped  the  death- 
bath.  The  audacious  fellow  is  found  next  in  some 
even  more  outrageous  proceedings. 

The  Archbishop  of  Mentz,  Von  Gemmingen,  had 
suddenly  died.  It  is  reported  that  his  enemies  at 
Cologna,  raging  over  their  defeat  in  the  Reuchlin 
matter,  had  a  hand  in  his  untimely  taking  off.  He 
was  succeeded  by  the  Elector  Albert.  Such  an  ele- 
vation to  priestly  honors  involved  the  payment  of 
twenty  thousand  gold  guilders  to  the  See  of  Rome. 
But  Albert  was  poor.  Where  should  he  raise  this 
enormous  sum?  In  this  emergency  Tetzel  offered 
his  specious  services.  It  would  be  folly  to  hold  the 
Catholic  Church  responsible  for  the  outrages  of  per- 
sons presumably  acting  as  her  agents. 

A  new  method  to  press  money  from  the  pockets 
of  the  ignorant  masses  was  introduced  by  that  wily, 
scheming  monk.  It  was  known  that  Pope  Leo  X. 
needed  funds  sorely  for  the  continuance  of  rebuild- 
ing the  Cathedral  of  St.  Peter  at  Rome.  The  works 
of  Maestros  Michael  Angelo  and  Raphael  in  the 
golden  dome,  creating  the  immortal  frescoes  of  the 
renowned  church,  had  to  go  on.  On  pretense  of 
aiding  His  Holiness  in  this  emergency,  a  vast  mar- 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  393 

ket  was  opened  upon  earth  by  this  friar.  From  the 
crowd  of  purchasers  and  the  shouts  and  jokes  of  the 
sellers,  it  might  be  called  a  fair  conducted  by  monks. 
The  merchandise  offered  at  "  reduced  prices  "  was 
the  salvation  of  souls.  The  Elector  injudiciously 
permits  his  diocese  to  be  opened  for  this  traffic  on 
condition  that  he  be  released  from  his  financial  diffi- 
culties. 

Tetzel  was  chief  auctioneer  for  the  disposal  at 
public  cry  of  the  precious  "  letters  of  indulgence." 
Christendom  was  to  be  shaken  from  its  very  founda- 
tion by  these  unheard-of  proceedings.  He  traversed 
the  country  in  a  handsome  carriage  accompanied  by 
three  horsemen,  living  in  great  state  and  spending 
money  freely.  When  he  approached  a  town,  one  of 
the  riders,  as  deputy,  waited  on  the  magistrate  and 
exclaimed  :  "  The  grace  of  God  is  at  your  gates  !  " 
Instantly  everybody  in  the  place  was  in  commotion. 
The  clergy,  the  priests  and  the  nuns,  the  council, 
schoolmasters  and  pupils,  the  trades,  with  their 
banners ;  men,  women,  young  and  old,  the  sick  and 
decrepit — all  bearing  lighted  tapers,  advancing  to 
the  sound  of  music ;  every  bell  tolling.  They  could 
not  have  received  the  Lord  himself  with  greater 
honor.  Salutations  being  exchanged,  the  procession 
moved  towards  the  church.  The  pontiff's  bull  of 
grace  was  carried  in  front  on  a  velvet  cushion  or  on  a 
cloth  of  gold.  Tetzel  came  next,  holding  in  his 
hand  a  large,  red,  wooden  cross.  Then  followed  the 
crowd  singing,  praying  and  incense  in  their  wake. 
The  sound  of  the  organ  and  martial  music  welcomed 
all  in  the  temple.  The  red  wooden  cross  was  raised 
in  front  of  the  altar ;  on  it  was  suspended  the  arms 
of  the  Pope.  As  long  as  it  remained  there,  daily 
before  the  salutation  or  after  vespers,  everybody 
rendered  homage  to  the  insignia.  The  quiet  cities 
of  Germany  were  in  great  excitement  and  commo- 


394  BEN  BEOR. 

tion,  aroused  by  this  strange  religious  spectacle. 
Tetzel  played  the  principal  role  in  the  performance. 
He  was  robed  in  the  grand  Dominican  dress.  His 
voice  was  sonorous  and  commanding,  although  it 
had  in  it  already  the  tremor  of  prematurely  advanced 
age.  His  salary  was  eighty  florins  a  month  and  all 
expenses  paid.  A  carriage  and  three  horses  were  at 
his  command.  But  his  largest  income  was  derived 
from  the  commission  on  his  sales.  He  gained  in 
one  day  at  Freiburg  two  thousand  florins.  It 
would  have  been  difficult  to  have  found  in  all  Ger- 
many a  man  better  fitted  for  the  business  in  which 
he  was  occupied.  To  the  theological  training  as  a 
monk  and  the  zeal  and  spirit  of  an  inquisitor  he 
united  the  effrontery  of  a  mountebank  and  the  bra- 
vado of  a  political  trickster.  The  circumstance 
which  especially  facilitated  his  task  was  his  skill  in 
inventing  extraordinary  stories,  by  which  he  cap- 
tivated the  mind  of  the  people.  As  soon  as  the  cross 
was  erected  he  went  into  the  pulpit,  extolling  the 
value  of  indulgences.  The  assemblage  listened  and 
stared  as  the  boisterous  eloquence  flowed  from  his 
lips.  Everybody  was  made  to  believe  that  they 
were  assured  of  salvation  and  the  deliverance  of  the 
soul  from  purgatory  as  soon  as  one  had  given  the 
money.  This  is  the  refrain  with  which  the  voluble 
monk  frequently  interspersed  his  harangues  : 

"As  in  my  box  the  money  rings, 
The  soul  from  purgatory  springs!" 

Here  is  one  of  the  delectable  addresses  delivered 
by  the  adroit  frater,  as  a  specimen  of  his  cunning 
and  ever-successful  rhetoric : 

"  Indulgences  are  the  most  precious  and  noble 
gifts  of  the  Lord.  This  cross  (pointing  to  the  red 
staff)  has  as  much  efficacy  as  the  very  crucifix  of 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  395 

the  Saviour.  Come  and  I  will  sell  you  letters,  all 
properly  sealed,  by  which  even  the  sins  which  you 
intend  to  commit  at  some  future  day  shall  be  par- 
doned. There  is  no  crime  so  great  that  an  indul- 
gence may  not  remit.  If  any  one  had  offered  violence 
to  the  Virgin  Mary,  let  him  pay — only  let  him  pay 
well — and  all  will  be  forgiven.  Reflect !  for  every 
mortal  sin  you  must,  after  confession  and  contrition, 
do  penance  for  seven  years,  either  in  this  life  or  in 
purgatory.  Think  how  many  mortal  sins  there  are 
committed  in  a  day,  week,  month,  in  a  year  or  in  a 
whole  lifetime !  Alas !  these  sins  are  almost  infi- 
nite, and  entail  eternal  penalty.  And  now  by  means 
of  these  letters  of  indulgence  you  can  obtain  plenary 
remission  !  Do  you  not  know  that  if  any  one  desires 
to  visit  Rome  or  any  country  where  travelers  incur 
danger,  he  sends  his  money  to  the  bank,  and  for 
every  hundred  florins  that  he  wishes  to  have,  gives 
five  or  six  or  ten  more,  that  by  means  of  letters  of 
this  bank  he  may  be  safely  repaid  his  money  at  Rome 
or  elsewhere?  And  you,  for  a  quarter  of  a  florin, 
will  not  receive  these  letters  of  indulgence,  by  means 
of  which  you  may  introduce  into  Paradise,  not  a  vile 
metal,  but  a  divine  and  immortal  soul,  without  its 
running  any  risk?  But  more  than  this: — Indul- 
gences avail  not  only  for  the  living,  but  also  for  the 
dead.  For  that,  repentance  is  not  even  necessary! 
Priest !  noble !  merchant !  wife !  youth !  maiden !  do 
you  not  hear  your  parents,  your  friends  who  are  in 
the  tomb,  cry  from  the  bottom  of  the  abyss:  'We 
are  suffering  horrible  torments  !  a  trifling  alms  would 
deliver  us ;  you  can  give  it — will  you  not  ?  '  O 
stupid  brutish  people,  who  do  not  understand  the 
grace  so  richly  offered  !  Heaven  is  everywhere  open ! 
Now  you  can  ransom  so  many  souls  !  Stiff-necked 
and  thoughtless  man,  with  twelve  florins  you  can 
deliver  your  father  from  purgatory ;  and  you  are  so 


396  BEN  BEOR. 

ungrateful  not  to  save  him !  I  shall  be  justified  on 
the  day  of  judgment,  but  you?  you  will  be  chastised 
so  much  more  for  having  neglected  a  great  salvation ! 
I  declare  to  you,  though  you  should  have  but  a 
single  coat,  you  ought  to  strip  it  off  and  sell  it  in 
order  to  obtain  the  grace.  The  Lord  our  God  no 
longer  reigns.  He  has  resigned  all  His  power  to  His 
supervisors  on  earth.  Do  you  know  why  our  most 
holy  Lord  distributes  so  rich  a  grace?  It  is  to 
restore  the  ruined  church  of  St.  Peter  and  St.  Paul, 
so  that  it  may  not  have  its  equal  in  the  world.  This 
church  contains  the  saintly  bodies  of  the  holy  apos- 
tles Peter  and  Paul,  and  those  of  a  multitude  of 
martyrs.  These  saintly  bodies,  through  the  present 
state  of  the  building,  are  now,  alas  !  trodden  upon, 
inundated,  polluted,  dishonored,  reduced  to  rotten- 
ness by  the  rain  and  hail.  Shall  these  sacred  ashes 
remain  longer  in  ruin  and  degradation  ?  All  cavilers 
and  traitors  who  are  opposed  to  this  work  are  hereby 
declared  excommunicated.  Blessed  are  the  eyes  that 
see  the  things  which  you  see,  for  I  tell  you  that  many 
prophets  and  kings  have  desired  to  see  those  things 
and  were  not  permitted  to  do  so,  and  to  hear  those 
things  which  you  hear  and  have  not  heard  them ! 
Therefore  bring !  bring !  bring !  " 

Thus  aroused  to  the  height  of  expectation,  the 
indulgence  was  now  considered  to  have  established 
its  throne  in  the  place  with  due  solemnity.  Confes- 
sionals decorated  with  sacred  arms  were  ranged  about. 
The  under-eommissionaries  and  father-confessors 
took  their  places.  On  each  of  their  stalls  were 
posted  in  large  characters  their  names,  surnames 
and  respective  titles.  Then  thronged  the  crowd 
around  the  confessors.  Each  came  with  a  piece  of 
money  in  his  hand.  Even  those  who  lived  on  alms 
raised  some  such  gift.  The  confession  over — and 
this  was  soon  done — the  faithful  hastened  to  the  ven- 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  397 

dor.  Tetzel  alone  was  charged  with  the  sale.  His 
booth  was  near  the  cross.  All  who  approached  him 
he  examined  with  a  scrutinizing  eye.  Their  gait, 
dress,  mien  and  bearing  helped  to  decide  what  sums 
should  be  required  of  the  individuals  who  presented 
themselves.  A  regular  schedule  for  the  traffic  had 
been  established.  Kings,  queens,  princes,  archbish- 
ops and  bishops  were,  according  to  the  scale,  taxed 
twenty-five  ducats  for  an  ordinary  indulgence.  Ab- 
bots, counts  and  barons,  ten.  Other  nobles,  rectors, 
and  every  one  with  an  income  of  five  hundred  florins, 
six  ducats ;  and  so  on,  all  in  graded  proportions. 
For  particular  sins  there  were  extra  taxes.  For 
sacrilege  and  perjury  nine  ducats,  murder  eight 
ducats,  witchcraft  two  ducats,  infanticide  a  half 
ducat,  parricide  or  fratricide  one  ducat. 

The  letter  of  absolution  read  thus :  "  May  our 
Lord  Jesus  Christ  have  pity  on  thee  and  absolve 
thee  by  the  merits  of  His  holy  passion !  And  I,  in 
virtue  of  the  power  that  has  been  vested  in  me, 
absolve  from  all  ecclesiastical  censures,  judgments 
and  penalties  which  thou  mayst  have  incurred; 
moreover,  from  all  excesses,  sins  and  crimes  which 
thou  mayst  have  committed,  however  great  or  enor- 
mous they  may  be,  and  from  whatever  cause,  were 
they  even  reserved  for  our  most  Holy  Father  and  for 
the  Apostolic  See.  I  blot  out  all  the  stains  of  ina- 
bility and  all  marks  of  infamy  that  thou  mayst  have 
drawn  upon  thyself  on  this  occasion.  I  remit  the  pen- 
alties that  thou  shouldst  have  endured  in  purgatory. 
I  restore  thee  anew  to  participation  in  the  sacraments 
of  the  Church.  I  incorporate  thee  afresh  in  the  com- 
munion of  saints,  and  re-establish  thee  in  the  purity 
and  innocence  which  thou  hadst  at  thy  baptism.  So 
that  in  the  hour  of  death,  the  gate  by  which  sin- 
ners enter  the  place  of  torments  and  punishment  shall 
be  closed  against  thee,  and,  on  the  contrary,  the  gate 


398  BEN  BEOR. 

leading  to  paradise  of  joy  shall  be  open.  And  if 
tliou  shouldst  not  die  for  long  years,  this  grace  will 
remain  unaltered  until  thy  last  hour  shall  arise.  In 
the  name  of  the  Father  and  the  Son  and  the  Holy 
Ghost.  Amen ! 

Friar  Tetzel,  commissionarv.  has  signed  this  with 
his  own  hand." 

Will  any  impartial  investigator  maintain  with  a 
shadow  of  reason  that  i  he  doings  of  this  crafty,  pre- 
sumptuous monk  were  ever  sanctioned  or  ever  known 
to  the  see  at  Rome,  just  at  this  time  occupied  by  one 
of  the  most  liberal  and  generous  Popes  known  to 
history  ?  The  excitement  of  the  times,  however, 
and  fanatical  partisanship  afterwards  charged  the 
culpability  of  the  individual  on  the  body  which  he 
represented,  or  misrepresented.  The  pupil  of  Ben 
Beor  proved  worthy  of  his  teacher ! 

Section  IIL—The  Fiat  Goes  Forth. 

On  the  morning  of  October  31,  1517,  in  one  of 
the  dormitories  of  the  University  at  Wittenberg, 
two  greatly  excited  men  gave  vent  to  their  highly- 
aroused  feelings,  each  one  in  his  own  peculiar  way — 
the  elder,  a  majestic-looking  Augustine  monk,  Mar- 
tin Luther,  whose  name  on  that  day  was  not  known 
outside  of  his  small  sphere.  He  was  professor  at 
this  comparatively  obscure  seat  of  learning,  and 
paced  now  violently  up  and  down  the  narrow  quar- 
ters, gesticulating  fiercely,  often  shaking  his  massive 
head  and  speaking  loudly  to  himself.  His  guest, 
Ulrich  von  Hutton,  in  a  chevalier's  dress  and  with 
a  soldier-like  appearance,  sits  at  a  table,  resting  his 
highly-flushed  cheek  on  one  hand,  while  in  the  other 
hand  he  holds  a  copy  of  TetzePs  plenary  absolution. 
Presently  he  jumps  from  his  seat,  and  with  an 
immense  blow  of  his  mighty  hand  upon  the  table,  he 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  399 

vociferously  exclaims :  "  This  disgrace  to  the  Church 
must  no  longer  continue ! "  And,  without  saying 
another  word,  he  rushes  out  of  the  room,  his  heavy 
sword  clanging  as  he  passes  down  the  stairs  and  out 
into  the  street.  "Right  he  is,"  says  the  other; 
"and  when  that  brave  fellow  once  undertakes  to  do 
a  thing,  he  will  make  the  ears  of  his  foes  ring.  But 
I  must  not  be  idle  while  such  shame  and  scandal  go 
on  right  beneath  my  eyes,  to  disgrace  all  Christen- 
dom ! "  With  these  words,  he  proceeds  to  a  side 
closet,  takes  therefrom  a  large  scroll  of  paper,  unrolls 
the  sheets  on  the  table,  and  seats  himself  to  read 
what  is  written  thereon.  Then  he  continues  to  ply 
his  pen,  never  resting  until  late  into  the  night.  The 
big  clock  in  the  high  cathedral  dome  strikes  twelve. 
The  night-watchman  has  stopped  right  under  the 
window  of  the  writer,  blowing  his  horn,  and  then 
singing  in  his  gruff  voice  the  usual  refrain : 

"  List  ye  well  !  all  folks  be  told, 
'Tis  twelve  o'clock  ;  now,  young  and  old, 
Take  ye  care  of  fire  and  of  light, 
That  harm  may  not  our  city  smite  !  " 

When  all  was  grown  still  again  the  monk  looks  for 
a  hammer  and  some  nails,  and  provided  with  these, 
takes  the  scroll  of  paper  and  proceeds  to  the  doors 
of  the  cathedral.  He  rapidly  nails  the  paper  on  the 
panel  of  the  huge  portals.  Then  he  falls  upon  his 
knees,  and  more  fervent  and  earnest  prayer  has  never 
risen  to  heaven  than  he  utters  in  that  stilly  dark- 
ness. Now  he  retires  as  quietly  and  quickly  as  he 
has  come,  and  within  a  short  time  he  is  sound  asleep 
on  his  hard  and  solitary  couch.  No  one  but  God, 
the  moon  and  the  stars  have  seen  the  quiet  act  which 
was  on  to-morrow  to  shake  and  heave  the  civilized 
world  in  its  very  foundation. 

At  daybreak  the  citizens  and  yeomanry  from  miles 


400  BEN  BEOR. 

away  turn  their  steps  towards  the  great  church.  It  is 
All  Saints  Day,  a  great  and  important  festival  of  the 
Catholic  religion.  As  they  came,  all  seemed  greatly 
excited,  and  they  tell  one  another  a  curious  story 
which  has  happened  only  on  yesterday  in  the  not  far 
distant  village  of  Interbogh.  From  the  disjointed 
dialogues  between  the  several  parties,  told  amidst 
lively  gesticulations,  smiles  and  loud  laughter,  the 
following  facts  can  be  garnered  : 

While  the  sale  of  indulgences  was  going  on  at  a 
lively  rate  in  the  large  town  church,  a  gentlemanly 
person  with  three  stalwart  followers  approached 
demurely  the  reverend  friar  and  requested  to  pur- 
chase an  absolution  document  for  a  sin  which  he 
and  his  friends  were  under  necessity  of  committing 
at  some  future  time.  After  much  haggling,  twenty 
ducats  were  finally  agreed  upon  as  the  price,  paid 
over  and  the  certificate  properly  signed  and  made 
out.  The  three  companions  of  the  purchaser  then 
fell  upon  Tetzel,  took  away  his  heavily  filled  chest 
and  disappeared,  while  their  leader  remained,  and 
with  drawn  sword  threatened  any  one  with  instant 
death  who  should  follow  or  interfere  with  his  con- 
federates, explaining  that  this  was  the  sin  which 
they  had  intended  to  commit,  for  which  they  had 
paid  the  demanded  price,  and  were  in  possession  of 
the  absolution.  Being  now  arrested  and  brought 
before  a  magistrate,  the  sly  fellow  produced  his 
papers,  and,  to  the  great  discomfiture  of  his  clerical 
prosecutors,  was  instantly  discharged.  The  holy 
friar  with  his  gang  had  thereupon  disappeared,  no 
one  knew  where ;  nor  did  he  ever  again  dare  show 
his  face  before  the  people,  most  of  whom  had  long 
since  become  disgusted  and  angered  by  the  preten- 
tious holy  fraud. 

But  what  means  all  the  commotion,  astonishment 
and  swaying  surprise  amidst  the  wondering  crowd 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  401 

% 

who  throng  the  great  staircase  and  the  wide  court 
leading  to  the  portals  of  the  cathedral  ?  A  cluster 
of  priests  and  monks  stand  in  front,  perusing  the 
paper  which  was  fastened  to  the  entrance  of  the 
sacred  edifice.  A  universal  shout  comes  from  the 
densely  packed  mass  of  humanity:  "Read — read — 
read ! "  One  of  the  reverend  fathers  is  lifted 
quickly  upon  the  shoulders  of  two  gigantic  peasants, 
and  he,  with  a  stentorian  voice,  reads  the  proclama- 
tion :  "  Ninety  theses  against  the  folly  of  indul- 
gences and  the  abuse  of  the  papal  power ;  by  the 
priest  and  monk,  Martin  Luther  !  " 

After  the  first  few  articles  of  this  astounding  pro- 
test are  read,  it  is  found  that  this  will  not  do.  The 
eager  crowd  cannot  hear.  The  cry  once  more  goes 
forth  :  "  Copy  them !  copy  them !  we  will  patiently 
wait !  but  quickly  copy  them !  "  Ink,  pen,  paper, 
chairs  and  tables  are  brought.  Twenty  hands  write 
incessantly  to  the  dictation  of  one  friar.  Within  an 
hour  the  transcriptions  are  made.  The  people 
divide  in  as  many  groups  as  there  are  copies  to  be 
read.  When  one  party  has  heard  them,  newcomer 
take  their  places  to  listen.  The  readers,  when 
exhausted,  have  to  be  changed.  New  copies  are  con- 
tinually made.  Prices  for  sheets  of  the  theses  were 
paid  on  that  first  day  of  November  hitherto  unknown 
in  the  annals  of  literature.  Nobody  thought  of 
church  or  service  on  that  auspicious  morning.  Next 
day  the  printers  had  done  their  work  effectually  and 
the  ninety  theses  were  rolled  off  from  the  presses  by 
the  thousands  and  scattered  to  all  the  points  of  the 
compass.  They  are  now  too  well  known  to  be 
reproduced  here.  Never  had  the  minds  and  con- 
sciences of  the  Christian  nations  experienced  such  a 
stirring  up.  It  was  the  bold  gauntlet  thrown  right 
into  the  face  of  Rome.  Within  a  month  the  docu- 
ment had  found  its  way  all  over  Germany,  France, 


402  BEN  BEOR. 

0 

Spain,  Italy,  to  Holland,  the  Netherlands  and  Great 
Britain.  The  fiat  had  gone  forth  against  the  Cath- 
olic Church,  and  the  name  of  Martin  Luther  was  on 
the  lips  and  in  the  hearts  of  millions. 

Section  IV. — The  Lull  before  the  Storm. 

History  at  this  period  made  immense  strides. 
Her  progress  was  like  an  avalanche,  accelerated  in 
furious  force  as  it  gained  in  momentum.  All  the 
passions  which  ever  heated  the  thoughts  and  feelings 
of  men  were  let  loose.  The  coming  revolution 
worked  like  a  leaven,  penetrating  every  stratum  of 
society.  Politics  and  theology  became  strangely 
mixed  up.  The  shrewdest  observer  could  not  tell 
from  one  day  to  the  other  what  new  events  and  com- 
plications might  be  born. 

Pope  Leo  X.,  a  refined,  scholarly  and  peace-loving 
gentleman,  looked  upon  Luther's  disaffection  as  a 
quarrel  among  rival  monks ;  similar  ones  having  wor- 
ried him  throughout  his  administration.  He  refused 
at  first  to  interfere.  The  clamors  came,  however,  so 
fiercely  from  high  and  low  that  he  sent  a  special 
nuncio  to  investigate  the  whole  affair,  charging  him 
to  conciliate  the  contending  factions. 

The  position  of  the  Wittenberg  Reformer  is  uncom- 
promising, firm  and  unalterable.  He  will  hear  of 
no  retraction,  conciliation  or  change.  Standing 
upon  holy  ground,  the  Bible  exclusively,  he  is 
willing  to  be  refuted  by  the  sacred  word,  but  no 
other  authority  shall  move  him  from  his  purpose. 
The  schism  is  at  present  engaged  in  tearing  down 
the  old  barriers  to  clear  the  ground  for  the  erection 
of  a  new  structure.  It  has  not  come  to  creed-mak- 
ing yet.  In  his  grave,  preliminary  work,  the  author 
of  this  new  spiritual  movement  finds  friends,  sym- 
pathizers and  hosts  of  co-laborers.  Melanchthon, 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  403 

the  classic,  amiable  and  true,  becomes  to  him  what 
Jonathan  was  to  David.  Zwingli,  of  Bern,  is  at  his 
right  hand.  Erasmus,  the  great  and  popular  sage, 
joins  the  forces.  The  Elector  of  Saxonia,  the  brave, 
strong  Frederick,  becomes  his  ally  and  protector. 
They  all  are  agreed  upon  bringing  down  what  they 
call  this  overbearing,  hated  power  of  Rome  ;  the  lay- 
ing of  the  foundation  of  a  new  religious  edifice  which 
shall  have  for  its  strength  and  supremacy  the  eternal, 
adamantine  basis  of  the  Bible. 

At  this  incipient  stage  and  while  thus  deeply 
engrossed  in  the  study  of  the  law  and  the  gospel,  yet 
under  the  benignant,  tolerant  and  personal  influence 
of  Reuchliu,  it  is  curious  to  see  how  the  sturdy, 
rough-edged  and  abrupt  rebel-priest  takes  up 
humanely  and  even  affectionately  the  cause  of  the 
Jews.  His  voice,  now  stronger  and  mightier  than 
that  of  princes  and  potentates,  cries  out  in  their 
behalf,  goes  forth  in  their  defense,  recorded  in  his 
collected  writings  in  the  following  strain : 

"  The  rage  against  these  Hebrews  is  yet  defended 
by  some  trifling  theologians,  who  advocate  in  their 
silly  arrogance  that  these  offspring  of  Abraham  are 
the  slaves  of  the  Christians  and  the  property  of  our 
rulers.  Our  preachers  know  of  no  higher  ambition, 
especially  in  Passion  (Easter)  week,  than  to  exagger- 
ate the  misdeeds  of  the  old  Israelites  towards  Christ ; 
to  embitter  the  hearts  of  the  faithful  against  them. 
Our  fools,  the  Papist  bishops,  sophists  and  monks, 
have  until  now  so  treated  these  Jews  that  any  good 
Christian  would  rather  have  joined  them  than  stay 
with  us.  If  I  were  a  Hebrew  and  had  such  knaves 
rule  and  teach  the  only  saving  faith,  I  would  rather 
have  turned  into  a  pig  than  to  a  Christian.  For  they 
have  treated  these  people  as  if  they  were  dogs  and 
not  men.  They  are  our  blood-relations,  kin  and 
brothers  of  our  Lord.  When  boasting  of  genealogy, 


404  BEN  BEOR. 

they  stand  nearer  in  flesh  and  blood  to  the  Redeemer 
than  we  do.  I  pray  all  dear  Papists,  when  ye  grow 
tired  to  nickname  me  a  heretic,  commence  to  call  me 
a  Jew. 

"Therefore  it  is  my  advice  that  we  shall  treat 
them  tenderly.  To  use  persecution  and  to  malign 
them  with  lying  accusations  that  they  drink  the 
Gentile's  blood  for  their  sacred  rites,  and  whatever 
else  are  these  foolish  imaginations ;  to  forbid  them  to 
work  amongst  us,  ostracize  them  and  force  the 
whole  tribe  to  usury — this  is  not  the  way  to  make 
them  come  and  join  us.  Whoever  wishes  to  help 
them  must  extend  to  these  people,  not  the  Pope, 
but  the  law  of  Christian  love ;  receive  them  friendly, 
so  they  may  find  cause  and  room  to  associate  with  us 
as  neighbors !  " 

Thus  spoke  Luther  at  the  start,  when  the  Scrip- 
tures were  yet  his  only  standard.  Later  on  we  shall 
see  him  change  his  tune  and  become  one  of  the  fierc- 
est and  most  malignant  Anti-Semites.  For  this  was 
the  direct  logical  consequence  when  the  Reformer, 
in  making  a  new  catechism,  after  having  fought  suc- 
cessfully the  material  Pope,  endeavored  to  replace 
him  with  a  new  creed  as  a  spiritual  autocrat. 

These  considerations  were,  at  this  stage  of  the  por- 
tentous events  now  ensuing,  side-issues  only.  The 
aged  Emperor  Maximilian  had  died,  and  the  young, 
ardent  and  enthusiastic  grandson,  Charles  V., 
greatly  aided  by  the  help  of  the  Elector  Frederick  of 
Saxony,  became  successor.  He  was  crowned  Octo- 
ber 22,  152C. 

During  the  turbulent  state  of  affairs,  His  Holiness 
Leo,  on  June  15,  1520,  had  at  last  issued  the  famous 
bull  declaring  all  the  writings  of  Luther  as  heretical. 
But  papal  decrees  had  no  longer  their  wonted  force 
in  the  world,  and  condemnatory  instruments  were 
received  everywhere,  but  especially  in  Germany, 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  405 

with  indifference  and  contumely.  It  was  nothing 
strange,  under  the  circumstances,  that  the  menaced 
reformer  opposed  force  to  force.  The  Pope  has  put 
him  under  ban  at  Rome ;  he  places  the  Pope  under 
ban  at  Wittenberg.  Hitherto  the  Pontiff's  com- 
mands were  all-powerful ;  now  sentence  will  be  pro- 
nounced against  sentence.  The  people  are  constituted 
judges!  On  the  17th  of  November  a  notary  and 
five  witnesses  met  at  ten  o'clock  A.  M.  in  one  of 
the  halls  of  the  Augustine  convent.  There  the 
public  officer,  Sartor  of  Eisleben,  draws  up  the  pro- 
test against  the  papal  "  bull,"  and  Luther's  appeal 
to  the  future  general  Christian  council  against  the 
authorities  of  Rome.  The  new  Emperor  is  called 
upon  to  adhere  to  this  protest  in  behalf  of  the 
defense  of  the  new  church.  This  is  the  bill  of 
divorce  of  Luther  from  the  Catholic  creed. 

On  the  10th  of  December  a  placard  was  posted  on 
the  walls  of  the  University  of  Wittenberg,  inviting 
the  professors  and  students  to  be  present  at  nine 
o'clock  in  the  morning  at  the  eastern  gate,  near  the 
holy  cross.  A  great  crowd  of  notables  marched  to 
the  spot.  Luther  was  at  their  head.  A  scaffold  had 
been  prepared.  One  of  the  old  masters  of  arts  set 
fire  to  it.  As  the  flames  rose  high  into  the  air,  the 
formidable  Augustine  monk,  wearing  his  cassock, 
approached  the  pile.  He  carried  the  canon  laws, 
the  "  Decretals,  the  Clementines,  the  Papal  Extra  v- 
agants,"  some  writings  of  his  foes  Eck  and  Emser, 
and  the  Pope's  bull.  All  the  other  documents  hav- 
ing been  first  consumed,  Luther  held  up  the  bull 
and  said,  "  Since  thou  hast  vexed  the  Holy  One  of 
the  Lord,  may  everlasting  fire  vex  and  consume 
thee !  "  He  then  flung  it  into  the  flames.  Never 
before  had  war  been  declared  with  greater  energy 
and  firmer  resolution. 

The  wheel  of  time  continued  to  turn  round,  groan- 


406  BEN  BEOR. 

ing  and  crunching.  In  one  of  its  next  mighty 
sweeps  a  solemn  diet  is  open  in  the  city  of  Worms. 
It  is  now  the  28th  of  January,  1521.  At  no  time 
had  so  many  princes  met  in  sacred  conclave.  Each 
one  was  desirous  of  participating  in  the  first  official 
act  of  the  then  young  Emperor,  who  was  hardly 
twenty  years  of  age.  Electors,  Dukes,  Archbishops, 
Landgraves,  Margraves,  Counts,  Bishops,  Barons 
and  Lords  of  the  Empire,  as  well  as  deputies  of  the 
towns  and  the  ambassadors  of  nations,  throng  with 
their  brilliant  trains  the  highways  that  lead  to 
Worms.  On  this,  the  birthday  of  Charlemagne,  the 
new  Emperor  in  person  opened  the  first  session  of 
the  august  conclave.  There  was  much  worldly  and 
important  business  to  be  transacted,  but  the  most 
momentous  affair  was  the  disruption  of  religion  in 
Germany.  Luther  had  been  summoned  through  his 
friend,  the  Elector  Frederick,  to  appear.  The  impe- 
rial pledge  was  given  that  no  injustice  should  be 
shown  to  the  Reformer,  that  no  violence  should  be 
used  againstthim,  and  that  learned  men  should  con- 
fer with  him.  It  was  a  sacred  safe-conduct  for  his 
coming  and  departure. 

The  Emperor  was  placed  in  a  very  great  dilemma 
by  the  whole  affair.  What  must  he  do,  placed 
between  the  Papal  Nuncio  and  the  Elector,  to  whom 
he  owed  his  crown  ?  How  can  he  avoid  displeasing 
either  Alexander  or  Frederick  ?  The  first  entreated 
His  Majesty  to  execute  the  Pope's  bull ;  the  second 
besought  him  to  take  no  steps  against  the  monk 
until  he  had  been  heard.  It  was  a  political  melee, 
by  which  the  Church  swung  to  and  fro  in  the  balance 
of  affairs. 

In  this  strait  an  official  "seneschal"  was  sent 
to  Wittenberg,  bearing  the  Diet's  summons  for  Dr. 
Martin  Luther's  appearance  at  its  bar,  entrusted  with 
safe-conduct  in  the  Emperor's  own  handwriting.  It 
read: 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  407 

"  Charles,  by  the  grace  of  God  Emperor-elect  of 
the  Romans,  always  august. 

"  Honorable,  well  beloved  and  pious ! 

"  We  and  the  States  of  the  Holy  Empire  here 
assembled,  having  resolved  to  institute  an  inquiry 
touching  the  doctrine  and  the  books  that  thou  hast 
lately  published,  have  issued  for  thy  coming  hither 
and  return  to  a  place  of  security,  our  safe-conduct, 
and  that  of  the  Empire,  which  we  send  thee  herewith. 
Our  sincere  desire  is  that  thou  shouldst  prepare 
immediately  for  this  journey,  in  order  that  within 
the  space  of  the  twenty-one  days,  fixed  by  our  safe- 
conduct,  thou  mayst  without  fail  be  present  before  us. 
Fear  neither  injustice  nor  violence.  We  will  firmly 
abide  by  our  aforesaid  safe-conduct,  and  expect  that 
thou  wilt  comply  with  our  summons.  In  so  doing 
thou  wilt  obey  our  earnest  wishes. 

"  Given  in  our  imperial  city  of  Worms  this  sixth 
day  of  March,  in  the  year  of  Our  Lord  1521,  and 
the  second  of  our  reign.  CHARLES. 

"  By  order  of  my  Lord  the  Emperor,  witness  my 
hand  and  seal,  Albert,  Cardinal  of  Mentz,  High 
Chancellor.  NICOLAS  ZIVIL." 

The  letter  was  addressed  "  To  the  honorable  our 
well-beloved  and  pious  Dr.  Martin  Luther,  of  the 
Order  of  Augustine." 

Here  was  a  great  anomaly :  a  man  whom  the  head 
of  the  Church  had  excommunicated,  with  all  the 
fearful  consequences  which  this  hitherto  implied; 
the  Emperor  conferred  on  him  the  title  of  "  well- 
beloved,  honorable  and  pious."  As  herald  commis- 
sioned to  bear  this  message  was  one  Gaspard  Sturm, 
who  delivered  the  same  safely  and  was  to  escort  the 
professor  to  Worms. 

Depite  the  apprehensive  warnings  of  friends  who 
remembered  the  fate  of  John  Huss  under  similar 
guarantees ;  in  spite  the  well-known  machinations  of 


408  BEN  BEOR. 

enemies  who  tried  everything  to  intimidate  the 
Reformer  and  make  him  disobey  the  summons,  but  to 
stay  away  and  flee  for  his  life ;  on  the  second  day  of 
April  he  bade  tearful  farewell  to  the  host  of  his  inti- 
mate companions  and  started  for  Worms.  The 
journey  resembled  a  triumphal  march.  Everywhere 
the  cortege  was  received  with  shouts  of  greeting 
and  exultation.  The  monk  tinder  the  ban  was  hailed 
as  liberator,  and  treated  in  all  places  where  he  passed 
as  a  guest  of  the  nation.  At  length  on  the  morning 
of  April  16,  the  walls  of  the  ancient  city  of  Worms 
came  into  view.  Here  a  train  of  one  hundred 
lords  and  knights  met  Luther,  in  his  modest  car, 
preceded  by  the  herald  Sturm,  in  gaudy  trappings. 
A  friend,  Jonas,  followed  on  horseback.  The  cava- 
liers rode  on  both  sides.  An  immense  crowd  awaited 
the  Wittenberg  doctor  at  the  gates.  Here  a  messen- 
ger approached  him.  Spaladin,  the  chaplain  of  the 
Diet,  a  warm  supporter  of  the  new  movement,  appre- 
hensive that  the  safe-conduct  would  not  be  respected 
as  being  given  to  a  condemned  heretic,  sent  the  urgent 
advice  :  "  Do  not  enter  the  city  !"  But  Luther  is 
undismayed.  He  turns  his  eyes,  always  full  of  fire, 
on  the  messenger,  and  undauntedly  replies :  "  Go 
tell  thy  master  :  if  there  were  even  as  many  devils 
in  Worms  as  there  are  tiles  on  the  housetops,  still 
will  I  enter  it ! " 

Cited  by  the  hereditary  grand  marshal  of  the 
empire,  Ulrich  von  Pappenheim,  on  the  seventeenth 
of  April,  at  four  in  the  afternoon,  Luther  is  con- 
ducted to  the  famous  town-hall.  The  crowd  is  so 
great  that  his  conductors  have  to  pass  through  the 
adjacent  houses  before  they  can  reach  the  huge  iron 
portals.  Here  an  old  battle-scarred  general  on 
guard  taps  the  doctor  on  the  shoulder  and  says  to 
him  :  "  Little  monk  !  little  monk !  thou  art  now  going 
to  make  a  nobler  stand  than  I  or  any  other  captain 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  409 

have  ever  held  in  the  bloodiest  of  our  wars.  But  if 
thy  cause  be  just  andthou  art  sure  of  it,  go  forward 
in  the  name  of  the  Lord  of  Hosts  and  fear  nothing. 
God  will  not  forsake  thee !  " 

Now  the  doors  of  the  hall  are  opened.  Never  had 
ordinary  man  appeared  before  so  imposing  an 
assembly.  The  Emperor  Charles  V.,  whose  sov- 
ereignty extended  over  the  greatest  part  of  the  world, 
on  his  golden  throne ;  his  brother,  the  Archduke 
Ferdinand,  and  six  Electors  of  the  Empire,  all  wear- 
ing kingly  crowns,  by  his  side.  Just  beneath  them 
are  seated  twenty-four  dukes,  each  an  independent 
ruler  over  countries  more  or  less  extensive;  eight 
margraves,  thirty  archbishops,  bishops  and  abbots, 
seven  ambassadors,  including  those  of  France  and 
England ;  the  deputies  of  the  free  cities ;  a  great 
number  of  princes,  counts  and  sovereign  barons. 
Among  the  conspicuous  papal  nuncios  stood  fore- 
most the  Emperor's  confessor,  Alexander.  In  all 
there  were  two  hundred  and  four  persons.  Such 
was  the  Diet  now  in  session.  The  memorable  pro- 
ceedings, charges  and  investigations  lasted  for  two 
days.  The  trial  concluded  with  the  immortal  words 
of  the  im terrified  Reformer  :  "  Unless  I  am  con- 
vinced by  the  testimony  of  Scripture  or  by  the 
clearest  reasoning;  unless  I  am  persuaded  by  means 
of  the  passages  I  have  quoted  from,  and  unless  my 
conscience  is  bound  by  the  word  of  God,  I  cannot 
and  will  not  retract.  Here  I  stand,  I  cannot  otherwise. 
May  God  help  me  I  Amen  !  " 

The  assembly  was  thunderstruck.  Many  of  the 
princes  found  it  difficult  to  conceal  their  admiration. 
The  Emperor,  recovering  from  his  first  impression, 
exclaimed:  "This  monk  speaks  with  an  intrepid 
heart  and  unshaken  courage."  Luther  had  with- 
drawn. Charles  V.  arose  and  all  the  assembly  with 
him.  "  The  Diet  will  meet  again  to-morrow  to  hear 


410  BEN  BEOR. 

the  Emperor's  judgment,"  said  the  chancellor,  with 
a  loud  voice ;  "  the  meeting  stands  adjourned !  " 

On  the  next  day,  at  the  hotel  called  "  The  Knights 
of  Rhodes,"  where  Luther  had  taken  residence,  the 
imperial  chancellors  and  a  notary  appeared  and  had 
the  doctor  brought  before  them.  One  of  the  chan- 
cellors said  to  him  :  "  Martin  Luther,  his  imperial 
majesty,  the  electors,  princes  and  states  of  the 
empire,  have  at  sundry  times  and  in  various  forms 
exhorted  thee  to  submission,  but  always  in  vain. 
Our  sovereign,  in  his  capacity  of  advocate  and 
defender  of  the  Catholic  faith,  finds  himself  com- 
pelled to  resort  to  other  measures.  He  therefore 
commands  thee  to  return  home  in  the  space  of 
twenty-one  days  and  forbids  thee  to  disturb  the 
public  peace  on  your  road  either  by  preaching  or 
writing."  This  was  tantamount  to  condemnation, 
although  the  edict  of  judgment  was  not  issued, 
signed  and  sealed  until  the  8th  of  May. 

Within  a  few  hours  the  outlawed  Augustine  pro- 
fessor departed  from  the  city  which  had  seen  his 
glory  and  the  plans  for  his  soon-to-be-encompassed 
downfall.  Great  apprehension  was  felt  by  his  friends 
that  he  would  be  waylaid  and  assassinated  on  his 
road  homeward.  Unknown  to  the  fugitive,  they 
watched  over  his  safety.  They  knew  that  his  oppo- 
nents would  shrink  from  nothing  to  annihilate  the 
original  agitator  of  the  troubles.  Luther  himself 
thought  his  fate  was  now  sealed.  He  would  once 
more  see  his  parents  and  the  dearly  loved  old  village 
of  his  nativity.  The  old  peasant  clasped  in  his  arms 
that  grandchild,  as  did  his  elated  parents  their  now 
renowned  son  who  had  defied  the  Emperor  and 
the  Pope.  One  day  was  spent  with  relations,  too 
happy,  after  the  tumult  at  Worms,  to  enjoy  here 
a  short  respite  of  tranquility.  Next  morning  he 
continued  his  journey  through  the  dense  forests  of 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  411 

Thuringia.  He  was  accompanied  by  a  brother, 
James,  and  friend,  Armsdorf.  When  they  reached  a 
secluded  spot  in  the  woods,  five  horsemen,  masked 
and  armed  from  head  to  foot,  sprang  upon  the  trav- 
elers. Three  of  these  seized  Luther,  threw  a  military 
cloak  over  his  shoulders  and  placed  him  upon  a 
horse.  All  was  done  without  a  word  being  spoken. 
The  driver,  brother  James  and  Armsdorf  fled,  chased 
away  by  the  two  other  masked  men.  Then  the  five 
remounted  and  in  the  twinkling  of  an  eye  vanished 
with  their  prisoner  into  the  gloomy  forest.  At  dark 
the  Reformer  was  safe  in  the  castle  of  the  Wartburg, 
a  prisoner  with  his  friend  and  protector,  the  Elector 
Frederick.  The  monk  was  made  to  lay  off  his 
friar's  garb  and  dress  himself  in  military  uniform. 
His  name  for  the  time  being  was  changed  into  Count 
George.  No  one  in  the  castle  or  surroundings 
except  the  initiated  knew  or  apprehended  who  this 
stranger  really  was.  In  the  solitude  of  this  ancient 
keep,  midst  the  giant  trees  of  the  forest  and  the  walls 
of  beautiful  gardens,  the  translation  of  the  Bible 
into  the  language  of  his  fatherland,  the  real  great 
work  of  his  life  which  will  endure  forever,  was 
accomplished.  Often  he  had  spells  of  misgivings 
and  hallucinations.  Once  he  even  fancied  that  he  saw 
the  devil  rising  from  the  ground  to  take  possession 
of  his  soul.  He  threw  the  inkstand  at  the  wall ; 
the  blots  there  remain  even  unto  this  day. 

All  the  intelligent  world  was  in  an  uproar  of  com- 
motion. No  one  knew  what  had  become  of  the  cele- 
brated reformer.  His  enemies  were  delighted,  but 
the  host  of  admirers,  friends  and  adherents  were 
struck  with  amazement,  indignation  and  horror.  A 
cry  of  grief  resounded  through  all  Germany: 
"  Luther  has  fallen  into  the  hands  of  our  enemies !  " 
They  should  soon  learn  otherwise. 


412  BEN   BEOR. 

Section  V. — The  Rebel,  Thomas  Munzer. 

During  all  these  troublesome  and  exciting  times 
what  had  become  of  Ben  Beor,  the  wandering  Gen- 
tile ?  Aware  that  the  crisis  of  the  dismemberment 
of  the  Church  had  come,  and  that  no  power  on  earth 
could  stay  the  revolution,  I  stood  aside  to  wait  and 
watch  the  upheaval  of  such  fiercely  aroused  relig- 
ious elements.  There  surely  must  come  a  time 
and  place  where  cunning  and  craft  might  put  in  its 
counteracting  work,  and  by  this  scheme,  if  possible, 
once  again  support  and  perpetuate  the  supreme 
powers  of  State  and  Church.  The  turbulent  masses 
themselves,  under  the  guidance  of  a  wily  leader, 
must  help  to  bring  about  the  destructive  downfall 
of  the  whole  cursed  movement.  My  new  policy  had 
commenced.  It  is  what  the  sportsman  calls  a  still- 
hunt. 

The  suiferings  of  the  peasants,  especially  in  Thur- 
ingia  and  the  provinces  of  the  Upper  Danube,  are 
beyond  all  description.  The  land  here  is  poor,  and 
repeated  droughts  had  brought  the  tillers  of  the  soil 
to  the  verge  of  starvation.  The  miserable  huts  in 
which  they  lived  fell  into  decay;  the  women  and 
children  were  in  rags,  and  want  stalked  over  the 
land.  To  this  was  added  the  misfortune  that  the 
men  were  given  to  dissipation,  spending  their  time 
and  what  little  means  they  could  scrape  together  in 
the  taverns.  These  places  were  low,  smoky  and  often 
filthy,  and  here  on  rude  benches  the  swilling  farmers 
passed  away  their  time  till  deep  into  the  night. 
The  stuff  which  they  drank  went  by  the  general 
name  of  "  Fusel,"  and  was  the  crudest,  most  fiery 
and  poisonous  alcohol  which  could  be  distilled. 
Under  its  influence  the  men  became  boisterously 
talkative,  and  in  this  were  given  much  to  discours- 
ing politics  and  religion.  The  inexorable  tax-gath- 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  413 

erer  came  in  greatly  as  the  subject  for  their  bitterest 
denunciations.  Every  distrainage  and  every  eviction 
executed  by  that  omnipresent  official  was  the  cause 
of  inciting  the  inflamed  minds  to  frequent  outbreaks, 
ending  in  bloodshed  and  murder. 

To  this  simple-minded  population  had  come  a 
confused  report  how  one  of  their  good  priests,  Father 
Martin  Luther,  of  Wittenberg,  had  bidden  defiance 
to  the  Pope  and  the  Emperor.  To  them  it  meant 
nothing  else  but  "  no  more  tithes  and  no  more  col- 
lectors !  more  drink  and  less  work."  Among  such 
people  in  the  small  village  of  Altstadt  there  had 
settled  a  priest,  a  very  peculiar  man,  by  the  name  of 
Thomas  Munzer.  He  appeared  to  be  well-informed 
of  Luther's  reformation  movement,  and  on  pretense 
of  deeply  sympathizing  with  the  distressed  yeomanry, 
drew  dense  crowds  to  hear  his  rough,  plain  eloquence, 
just  such  as  would  be  understood  by  his  unsophisti- 
cated audiences.  He  attained  a  controlling  power 
over  them ;  his  reputation  soon  extended  to  a  great 
distance.  The  Church  reform  was  to  him  no  reform 
at  all.  The  deliverance  of  the  people  from  hunger, 
oppression  and  tyrants  was  the  watchword  with 
which  he  set  his  deeply-aggravated  hearers  crazy. 
Every  one  of  these  acted  like  a  missionary  in  the 
spreading  tumult.  A  conspiracy  of  wide  extent 
was  soon  inaugurated,  which  became  all  the  more 
dangerous  as  it  acted  by  a  new  device  of  Munzer's 
own  invention  and  direction.  Secret  societies  were 
established,  whose  ever-increasing  members  pledged 
themselves  under  the  penalty  of  death  not  to  reveal 
the  work,  doings  and  principles  of  the  initiated. 
The  outside  world  little  dreamt  of  the  existence  of 
the  powerful  plot  when  already  thousands  had  joined 
its  ranks.  The  new  herald  of  freedom  in  his  public 
utterances  openly  declared  that  he  and  his  followers 
did  not  care  about  this  fight  with  the  Pope;  that 


414  BEN  BEOR. 

those  arrogant  reformers,  as  soon  as  they  had  ousted 
Rome,  would  institute  an  equally  despotic  hierarchy  of 
their  own.  It  was  immaterial  to  the  suffering  slave 
whether  mass  was  said  in  church  or  no ;  whether  a 
priest  might  marry  or  stay  in  celibacy.  It  is  always 
the  Bible,  ever  the  Bible,  with  which  they  would 
feed  the  starving — giving  them,  in  the  very  words 
of  that  book,  a  stone  instead  of  bread.  The  only 
cure  for  all  existing  evils  is  community  of  property 
and  the  principle  of  free-love  affinity  in  the  domestic 
relations  of  mankind.  Ensnaring  and  enticing  as 
such  firebrands  of  words  proved  among  the  be- 
nighted, ignorant  and  easily  excited  masses,  some- 
thing dreadful  happened  right  in  the  centre  of  this 
sleeping  crater  which  stirred  up  the  approaching 
calamity  to  earthquake  violence  : 

A  number  of  years  ago  a  middle-aged  man  with 
an  only  daughter  and  two  sons  had  come  to  reside 
in  the  village.  Lately  bereaved,  a  gloom  of  deep 
mourning  was  cast  over  the  family,  which  the  loss  of 
a  good  wife  and  fondly  loved  mother  makes  visible 
in  many  ways.  The  father  bought  a  tract  of  land 
amidst  the  farming  dwellers,  and  erected  thereon  a 
comfortable  house,  something  unusual  for  this  dis- 
trict. The  lower  portion  was  arranged  for  dealing  in 
merchandise,  and  to  the  great  accommodation  of  his 
neighbors  they  could  now  purchase  their  goods  at 
home.  The  newcomers  endeared  themselves  greatly 
to  the  neighbors  by  friendly  intercourse  and  an  ever- 
ready  hand  and  heart  for  charitable  and  benevolent 
help  wherever  distress  called  for  such,  and  this,  alas ! 
was  too  often  the  case.  Mirjam,  the  daughter,  was 
the  soul  of  the  house.  Although  not  more  than 
fourteen  years  old,  the  little  woman  took  charge  of 
the  entire  domestic  care,  including  the  management 
of  her  two  younger  brothers.  She  was  bright,  quick, 
and  prematurely  developed  in  body  and  mind. 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  415 

The  boys,  not  more  than  thirteen  and  eleven  years 
old  respectively,  loved  her  fondly  and  obeyed  her 
as  if  this  was  self-understood,  she  having  a  natural 
tact  which  assured  ready  obedience  without  com- 
mand. Several  times  the  family  had  been  visited  by 
wealthy  relatives.  These,  as  everybody  in  the  neigh- 
borhood knew,  made  efforts  to  induce  Moser,  the 
merchant,  to  sell  out  and  return  to  the  city ;  but  he 
would  not  listen  to  such  well-meant  proposals.  He, 
as  was  his  ever-ready  answer,  enjoyed  a  happiness 
among  the  ruralists,  contentment  and  health,  to  which 
during  a  long  previous  career  the  family  had  been 
strangers.  So  the  girl  grew  into  a  young  lady,  and 
Morris  and  Joseph,  the  boys,  into  strong  and  sturdy 
lads  who  delighted  in  farm  work  and  gardening,  of 
which  they  made  a  great  success.  Everything  flour- 
ished and  prospered  in  this  simple  mode  of  life.  It 
was  remarked  that  they  never  went  to  church. 
Before  the  arrival  of  Munzer  the  old  genial  pastor 
had  called  several  times  at  the  house,  where  he  was 
cordially  received.  When  he  left  the  last  time  he 
was  satisfied  with  the  reasons  why  these  people 
stayed  away  from  mass  and  communion.  "  Chil- 
dren," he  was  heard  to  say  to  his  inquisitive  par- 
ishioners, "  they  do  not  believe  as  we  do,  but  they 
fear  God  and  are  so  kind  and  good  that  it  matters 
not."  By-and-bye  it  was  learned  they  were  Jews ; 
but  nobody  cared.  And  when  the  people  saw  repeat- 
edly their  own  reverend  pastor  sit  with  the  mer- 
chant, both  poring  over  books  in  friendly  dispute, 
it  increased  respect  and  attachment  for  the  family  all 
the  more.  Lately  it  had  been  whispered  about  that 
their  own  dear  Mirjam  would  soon  have  to  leave 
them,  as  she  was  shortly  to  be  married.  While 
everybody  rejoiced  at  her  good  fortune,  they  sincerely 
regretted  losing  the  little  mother,  as  all  were  wont  to 
call  her.  She  would  be  replaced  by  an  aunt,  an  old 


416  BEN  BEOR. 

maiden  sister  of  her  lamented  mother,  who  had 
already  arrived  and  helped  in  the  busy  arrangements 
and  preparations  for  the  wedding. 

A  few  miles  away  there  stood  upon  one  of  the 
lofty  crags  of  the  "  Wald,"  the  ancient  castle  of 
"Eagle's  Nest."     Its  old  baron  and  only  son  were 
rough,  boisterous  and  profligate  nobles,  such  as  a 
short  period  ago  were  the  terror  and  plague  of  the 
country.  Among  the  robber  knights  and  chivalry  none 
were  more  feared  and  dreaded  than  the  Von  Schwarz- 
bergs,   who   held  their  revel  and  committed   their 
crimes  here  on  their  possessions.     The  strong  hand 
of  the  Empire  had  forced  these  lawless  marauders 
into  some  decent  behavior.     The  old  man  Wilhelm 
and  his  young  scion  George  never  had  passed  through 
the  pauper  village  of  Altstadt,  and  barely  knew  its 
existence.     But  it  happened  that  one  day  while  on  a 
boar  chase  they  and  a  lot  of  kindred  companions  were 
led  this  way  by  a  wounded  animal.     They  charged 
on  their  foaming  horses  through  the  town,  making 
the  usual  stillness  a  pandemonium  of  noise  and  up- 
roar with  their  shouts.     Everybody  ran  to  the  doors 
to  see  what  was  the  cause  of  all  this  unearthly  dis- 
turbance.    Among  the   curious   was   Mirjam;  she 
was    unfortunately  espied    by  the    young    Baron 
George,  who  gazed  at  the  beautiful  form  like  one 
entranced.     At  his  bidding  the  whole  wild  crowd 
dismounted.     They  were  already  excited   by    the 
desperate  chase  and  plentiful  intoxicating  potions 
imbibed  fiom  their  well-filled  drinking  horns.   They 
rushed  pellmell  first  into  the  store,  then  into  the 
private  rooms  of  the  house.  Mirjam  and  her  aunt  had 
taken  refuge  in  their  sleeping  apartment.     The  girl 
in  her  desperation  had  snatched  up  a  dagger  and  hid  it 
in  her  bosom.  Moser  ran  to  the  protection  and  defense 
of  his  daughter.     He  was  felled  to  the  ground  with 
blows  from  the  guns,  and  lay  bleeding  and  dying 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  417 

before  the  door.  The  intruders  kicked  him  aside 
and  forced  the  doors  open.  The  two  lads  had  come 
running  in  from  the  garden,  where  they  had  been  at 
work.  They  flourished  their  pitchforks,  and  seeing 
their  father  on  the  floor,  they  fought  bravely  and 
frantically,  wounding  several  of  the  crowd ;  but  they 
were  soon  knocked  down,  mortally  wounded.  Then 
the  feeble  women  were  dragged  forth.  The  old  aunt 
resisting  all  in  her  power,  a  savage  blow  on  her  head 
spattered  her  brains  against  the  wall.  The  leader, 
young  George,  tried  to  clasp  Mirjam  in  his  arms, 
crying  out:  " Beauty  belongs  to  the  castle!"  The 
girl,  however,  quickly  drew  her  dagger  from  its 
hiding-place  and,  nerved  by  desperation  and  despair, 
plunged  it  into  the  breast  of  her  assailant,  piercing 
him  through  the  heart.  The  would-be  kidnapper 
fell  dead  at  her  feet.  She  was  then  soon  over- 
powered. The  old  Baron,  when  he  saw  and  realized 
the  irreparable  loss  of  the  last  of  his  house,  was 
frantic.  In  his  fearful  rage  he  snatched  the  dagger 
from  the  breast  of  his  son,  and  with  his  own  hand 
thrust  it  into  both  the  eyes  of  the  shrieking  woman, 
screeching  out  to  his  shuddering  companions,  "Let 
the  wench  go  blind  through  the  world  to  tell  the 
vengeance  of  a  Schwarzberg !  "  When  his  fearful 
deed  was  done  the  crowd  took  up  the  body  of  the 
Baron.  In  a  few  minutes  all  were  gone  and  the 
place  was  silent.  Half  an  hour  had  sufficed  to 
transform  the  peaceful,  happy  paradise  of  a  home 
into  destruction  and  blackest  hell. 

Then  the  peasants,  already  ripe  for  insurrection, 
came  and  viewed  the  terrible  scene,  the  desolation, 
anguish  and  death  among  those  whom  they  had 
learned  to  revere  and  love.  One  cry  of  revenge 
broke  forth  from  the  exasperated  crowd.  After  the 
burial  of  their  favorites,  and  after  taking  care  of 
poor  Mirjam  and  the  most  scrupulous  watch  over 


418  BEN  BEOR. 

the  estate,  they  armed  themselves  with  spades,  flails, 
pitchforks,  axes  and  hammers.  On  the  morning  of 
the  second  day  after  the  outrage,  under  leadership  of 
Munzer,  five  thousand  farmers  climbed  the  heights 
leading  to  the  castle  of  the  "  Eagle's  Nest."  Before 
night  there  was  not  left  a  living  soul  within  its  ram- 
parts. They  caught  Baron  Wilhelm  and  his  friends 
lamenting  and  mourning  over  the  corpse  of  the  late 
noble  George.  One  by  one  was  hurled  from  the 
walls  into  the  abyss  on  the  east  side  of  the  keep. 
Then  fire  was  set  to  the  premises.  Not  one  stone 
was  left  upon  another.  Blind  Mirjani  and  her  sac- 
rificed family  were  well  avenged ! 

The  ball  was  now  set  in  motion.  "  The  Peasants' 
War"  had  commenced.  Under  the  guidance  of 
their  fanatical  leader  and  priest  they  became  a  semi- 
organized  body,  ready  to  perform  any  deed  of 
violence  and  outrage  at  every  opportunity.  They 
were  divided  into  several  sections.  Each  had 
its  own  favorite  banner.  Inscriptions  of  "  Liberty," 
"  Equality,"  "  No  more  tithes,"  "  No  more  taxes," 
"  No  property,"  "  All  for  All,"  graced  in  their  sev- 
eralties  the  woolen  buntings.  There  was  seen  at 
their  head  a  blind  demented  woman.  It  was  Mir- 
jam.  As  soon  as  sufficiently  recovered  physically, 
the  priest  Munzer  had  taken  care  of  her.  The 
maiden's  mind,  once  so  bright,  lovely  and  loyal,  was 
now  idiotic.  She  turned  like  wax  in  the  hands  of 
the  designing  priest  and  he  had  her  soon  fired  with 
a  frenzy  for  the  new  religion.  Her  anxious  affianced 
and  relations  were  not  permitted  to  see  her.  On 
threat  of  instant  death  they  were  warned  away  from 
approaching  the  village,  cordoned  by  a  band  of 
rebellious  farmers.  Shortly  she  was  baptized  into 
the  church  and  made  a  prophetess  in  the  new  rebel 
cause.  Her  overwrought  brain  turned  now  on 
pious  hallucinations.  She  had  supernatural  visions 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  419 

and  divinely  exalted  dreams.  God  appeared  to  her 
in  person.  She  was  commanded  to  break  down  the 
idols  and  the  images  of  the  church.  She  was  bidden 
to  detroy  the  mass  and  its  idolatrous  ministrants. 
And  as  she  said,  so  Munzer  and  the  willing  hosts 
obeyed ;  and  as  she  commanded,  so  these  now  furi- 
ous mobs  would  execute.  From  church  to  church, 
from  village  to  village,  from  town  to  town  the  crazed 
rabble  moved.  Not  a  sacred  picture  was  left,  not 
an  image  remained.  The  altars  were  hewn  down, 
crucifixes  and  sacred  shrines  burned  and  destroyed. 
But  yesterday  worshipped  as  divine,  to-day  they  were 
defiled  and  profaned.  The  consecrated  priests,  who 
now  eagerly  joined  these  bands,  were  foremost  in 
carrying  out  the  senseless  havoc.  Many  of  them 
forsook  their  vows  of  celibacy  and  married.  Mun- 
zer had  proposed  a  spiritual  connubial  union  with 
Mirjam.  But  against  this  she  remained  obdurate. 
Christ  was  her  wedded  spouse,  and  no  mortal  man 
should  mar  her  celestial  love. 

The  news  of  this  ever-swelling  outbreak  in  a  short 
time  reached  Luther  at  Wartburg.  He  had  just 
returned  there  after  risking  his  life  and  safety,  quell- 
ing dangerous  dissension  in  the  midst  of  his  friends 
and  followers  at  Wittenberg.  And  now,  after  giant 
efforts  to  restore  union  among  the  discontented  and 
rebellious  priests,  professors  and  students,  came  the 
report  from  the  threatening  political  uprising  of  the 
exasperated,  greatly  tormented  peasants.  Their  cause 
was  certainly  to  a  large  extent  justifiable.  But  the 
question  of  the  church  reform,  yet  in  its  infantile 
weakness,  was  and  must  be,  at  least  for  the  present, 
supreme.  Both  could  not  possibly  succeed.  One 
must  be  sacrificed.  The  disaffected  farmers  warred 
directly  against  the  rights  and  privileges  of  his  noble, 
aristocratic  and  powerful  associates.  If  these  should 
be  armed  against  him,  both  causes  would  be  unques- 


420  BEN   BEOR. 

tionably  in  instantaneous  and  certain  peril.  So  his 
choice  was  taken  and  with  firm  determination.  The 
revolution  must  be  put  down  with  force  of  arms  and 
at  whatever  cost !  He  called  for  the  Elector  and  such 
princes  and  magistrates  whose  sovereign  territory 
was  in  danger  of  being  overrun  by  the  bold  rebels. 
Before  they  could  meet,  new  reports  of  shocking 
occurrences  came  in.  Towns  were  sacked,  cities  set 
on  fire,  all  bonds  of  law  and  order  torn  asunder. 
The  extent  of  the  rising  grew  with  fearful  velocity. 
Now  or  never  this  commotion  must  be  quelled. 

As  soon  as  his  noble  patrons  met,  he  urged  with 
the  rough  eloquence  and  persuasive  powers  of  which 
he  was  an  incomparable  master,  the  immediate  neces- 
sity of  taking  the  field  and  making  a  speedy  end  of 
the  revolt.  His  language  was  overwrought  and, 
even  in  the  opinion  of  those  who  sided  with  him,  he 
overstepped  the  just  bounds  within  which  one  who 
professed  the  "gospel  of  love"  should  have  con- 
tained himself.  He  said :  "  These  peasants  commit 
three  horrible  crimes  against  God  and  man,  and 
deserve  death  of  body  and  soul.  First,  they  revolt 
against  their  magistrates,  to  whom  they  have  sworn 
fidelity;  next,  they  rob  and  plunder  convents  and 
castles ;  and  lastly,  they  veil  their  sins  with  the  cloak 
of  the  Gospel.  If  you  do  not  put  a  mad  dog  to 
death,  you  will  perish  and  all  the  country  with  you. 
For  this  reason,  my  dear  lords,  help,  save,  deliver ! 
have  pity  on  these  poor  people !  Let  every  one 
strike,  pierce  and  kill  who  is  able!  If  ye  die,  ye 
cannot  meet  a  happier  death,  for  it  is  in  the  service 
of  God  and  to  save  your  neighbors  from  hell!" 

The  princes  elected  as  their  chief  commander  George 
von  Truchsess.  Within  a  short  time  the  imperial 
army  was  in  the  field.  They  found  brave  and  deter- 
mined resistance ;  but  how  could  an  undisciplined, 
unorganized,  ill-provisioned  mob  stand  against  the 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  421 

regular  army?  It  was  pitchforks  and  rails  against 
guns  and  powder.  Munzer  had  tried  by  every  pos- 
sible effort  to  provide  his  wild  cohorts  with  firearms. 
In  this,  however,  he  failed,  although  he  had  plenty 
of  ammunition.  Nor  would  the  weapons  have  been 
of  any  practical  service  with  his  untrained  people, 
who  had  a  great  prejudice  against  any  other  warfare 
than  with  their  crude,  heavy  farming  implements. 
As  may  be  readily  foreseen,  in  several  bloody 
encounters  the  yeomanry  were  slaughtered  by  the 
thousands.  Mirjam  the  prophetess  was  taken  pris- 
oner and  instantly  put  to  death.  A  soldier  took 
a  sick  man  from  the  loft  of  a  house  at  Franken- 
hausen.  The  invalid  thinking  that  he  would  fare  bet- 
ter by  simulating  to  be  Munzer,  owned  after  pressing 
questions  that  he  was  the  now  renowned  and  notori- 
ous leader.  He  was  beheaded  without  trial  and 
delay.  But  the  real  Munzer,  "the  Wandering  Gen- 
tile, Ben  Beor,"  was  far  away,  rejoicing  in  the  suc- 
cess of  his  first  trial  of  a  most  promising  plan,  and 
projecting  new  schemes  for  his  direful,  cruel  mission 
against  the  people  and  their  rights. 

Section  VI. — The  Num  of  Nirnptsch. 

In  the  monastery  of  Nimptsch,  near  Grimona  in 
Saxony,  there  dwelt  in  the  year  1523  nine  nuns.  A 
stranger  who  pretended  to  be  a  colporteur  of  the  new 
Reformation,  left  there  one  day  a  German  transla- 
tion of  the  Bible ;  and  the  young,  pious  sisters  became 
diligent  in  reading  the  word  of  God.  From  this 
they  discovered  the  contrast  which  existed  between 
a  domestic  and  a  monastic  life.  Their  names  as 
entered  in  the  cloister  records  were  Magdalen 
Staupitz,  Eliza  Canitz,  Ava  Grossen,  Ava  and  Mar- 
gareth  Schonfeldt,  Laneta  Golis,  Margareth  and 
Catharine  Zeschau,  and  Catharine  Bora.  The  first 


422  BEN  BEOR. 

impulse  of  these  young  women,  when  the  new  idea 
had  taken  root  in  their  minds,  was  to  write  to  their 
parents  :  "  The  salvation  of  our  souls  will  not  permit 
us  to  remain  any  longer  in  this  convent."  Their 
prayers  were  harshly  rejected.  The  poor  nuns  were 
dismayed.  What  should  they  do  ?  Their  timidity 
was  alarmed  at  so  desperate  a  step  as  leaving  the 
cloister  by  their  own  volition.  At  last  the  horror 
they  now  felt  against  the  papal  services  prevailed, 
and  they  promised  one  another  to  keep  together  and 
repair  in  a  body  to  some  respectable  place,  orderly 
and  with  decency.  Two  worthy  and  pious  citizens 
of  Torgau,  whom  the  nuns  made  their  confidants, 
Leonard  Koppe  and  Wolff  Tomitzsch,  offered  assist- 
ance, which  they  accepted,  believing  that  it  came 
from  God  himself.  On  the  seventh  of  April,  1523, 
a  wagon  stopped  before  the  cloister  and  the  nine  nuns 
climbed  in,  amazed  by  their  own  boldness.  Their 
two  rescuers  drove  them  directly  to  the  gate  of  the 
old  Augustine  convent  at  Wittenberg,  where  Luther 
now  resided.  "This  is  not  my  doings  !"  exclaimed 
the  Reformer, "  but  would  to  God  that  I  might  rescue 
all  captive  consciences  and  empty  every  monastery. 
The  breach  is  made !"  Many  worthy  citizens  offered 
to  receive  the  nuns  in  their  homes,  which  was- 
accepted.  Catharine  Bora  found  welcome  in  the 
family  of  the  burgomaster. 

It  has  been  charged  against  the  new  church  move- 
ment that  the  special  preferment  to  this  last  of  the 
nine  was  brought  about  by  Luther  himself.  He  at 
this  time  had  more  solemn  thoughts  of  ascending  the 
scaffold  as  a  martyr  to  his  cause  than  to  approach 
the  hymeneal  altar.  Many  months  after  this  he 
replied  to  those  who  spoke  to  him  of  marriage: 
"  God  may  change  my  heart,  if  this  be  His  pleasure; 
but  now  at  least  I  have  no  thought  of  taking  a  wife. 
Not  that  I  do  not  feel  any  attraction  for  that  estate. — 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  423 

I  am  neither  a  stick  nor  a  stone — but  every  day  I 
expect  the  punishment  and  death  of  a  heretic."  How- 
ever, on  Sunday,  October  9,  1524,  he  laid  aside  the 
garb  of  an  Augustine  monk  and  assumed  the  dress 
of  a  secular  priest.  He  then  made  his  appearance 
thus  clad  in  the  church,  where  this  change  caused  a 
lively  sensation.  It  was  another  token  that  the 
old  religious  ideas  had  passed  away. 

Shortly  after  this  all  the  monks  left  the  Augustine 
convent.  Luther  alone  remained.  His  footsteps  only 
re-echoed  through  the  long  galleries ;  he  sat  silent  and 
solitary  in  the  refectory,  which  had  so  long  and  until 
lately  resounded  with  the  chatter  of  the  friars.  An 
eloquent  silence,  attesting  the  doctor's  triumph, 
followed.  The  cloister  had  ceased  to  exist.  About 
the  end  of  December,  1524,  Luther  sent  the  keys  of 
the  monastery  to  the  Elector,  informing  him  that  he 
should  see  where  it  might  please  God  to  feed  him. 
The  Elector  presented  the  building  to  the  University 
and  invited  Luther  to  continue  his  residence  in  it. 
This  was  accepted  for  the  present. 

Luther's  heart  was  formed  for  domestic  life ;  he 
honored  and  loved  the  marriage  state.  Did  not  the 
comeliness  and  attractiveness  of  Catharine  Bora  add 
to  his  natural  inclinations?  For  a  long  time  his 
scruples  and  the  fear  of  criticism  which  the  mar- 
riage of  a  monk  would  occasion  had  prevented 
his  thinking  of  her.  He  had  offered  poor  Catharine 
first  to  Baumgartner  of  Niiremburg,  and  then  to  a 
Dr.  Glatz,  of  Orlamund.  But  Baumgartner  refused 
to  take  her,  and  she  refused  to  accept  Glatz  ;  so  he 
Basked  himself  seriously  whether  he  ought  not  to 
marry  her  himself? 

His  aged  father,  who  had  greatly  grieved  when 
his  son  embraced  a  monastic  life,  now  urged  him  to 
enter  the  conjugal  state.  B«ut  one  idea  above  all 
was  daily  present  before  the  Doctor's  mind  and 


426  BEN  BEOR. 

were  not  slow  in  rejoicing  to  see  their  ministers  of  the 
Gospel  once  more  husbands  and  fathers. 

(Data  and  facts  of  this  episode  are  mostly  taken 
from  the  historian,  J.  H.  Merle  d'Aubigne".) 

Section  VII. — Creed-Making  and  its  Results. 

As  long  as  the  great  cause  of  the  Reformation 
was  in  its  primary  stage  of  development,  its  evolu- 
tionary work  was  militant  only;  its  attacks  were 
directed  against  the  overwhelmingly  abused  power  of 
Catholicism.  But  after  the  period  of  negation  and 
destruction  passed  over ;  after  the  first  enthusiasm 
of  its  promulgators  had  accomplished  complete 
severance  from  their  mother  of  Rome ;  after  priests 
and  princes  had  joined  forces  to  dissolve  partnership 
with  the  old  faith — a  new  era  came,  as  it  logically 
must  come,  reconstructing  upon  the  debris  of  the 
wrecked  building  of  a  past  religion  the  new  edifice 
of  another.  Had  there  been  but  one  chief  leader, 
this  goal  could  prove  of  no  great  difficulty.  But  the 
impulse  given-  at  Wittenberg  acted  with  rapidity, 
spreading  in  its  velocity  throughout  the  continent. 
Germany,  with  Luther  and  Melanchthon,  did  not 
long  remain  alone.  Switzerland  and  its  Zwingli 
loomed  up  as  a  contemporary.  France  and  her 
Calvin  came  next.  Holland  and  the  Netherlands 
had  their  Esch  and  Yoe.  In  Scandinavia,  two 
brothers,  Olaf  and  Lars  Peterson,  headed  the  new 
religious  movement.  In  England  and  Scotland  the 
Reformation  took  a  political  as  well  as  a  religious 
tendency  ;  Wycliffe  and  the  Lollards  were  the  fore- 
most representatives  of  the  new  faith.  Henry  VIII. 
stood  here  at  the  head  of  the  political  cause  against 
the  Pope  and  his  authority.  In  every  land  and 
country  it  boiled  and  fermented  among  the  rulers 
and  the  people,  joining  the  procession  in  the  march 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  427 

onward.  Had  all  these  united  in  one  strong  "new 
church/'  they  might  have  stood  against  the  world ; 
but,  unfortunately  for  them,  every  one  of  the  leaders 
had  sprung  from  the  very  bosom  of  the  old  church, 
and  had  imbibed  from  earliest  training  some  strong 
and  unconquerable  Catholic  predilections  which  be- 
came controling  in  the  several  spheres  where  they 
now  moved.  It  is  not  in  human  nature  to  throw 
off  at  will  the  impressions  ingrained  during  childhood. 

The  views  of  the  leaders  were  as  different  and 
diversified  as  their  characters  and  the  peculiar  traits 
of  their  native  countries.  Each  one  set  to  work  to 
formulate  a  creed  of  his  own.  Soon  there  were 
almost  as  many  Christian  sects  as  there  were  chief- 
tains in  the  cause  of  the  Reformation.  And  it  did 
not  take  long  ere  these  antagonized  one  another  as 
much,  and  in  several  instances  more,  than  they  did 
their  arch-enemy  of  Rome.  Their  very  worst  foe 
could  not  have  wished  it  better;  and  while  every 
Papist  rejoiced  over  this  family  feud,  the  Anti-Mes- 
siah, myself  their  prime  antagonist,  helped  on  the 
foment  and  disturbance  in  the  most  sly  and  under- 
hand fashion  possible. 

Luther  distinguished  himself  principally  in  his 
pride  and  inflexible  temper  in  keeping  up  the  divi- 
sion. Melanchthon,  with  his  mild  and  gentle  disposi- 
tion, tried  everything  in  his  power  to  bridge  over 
some  of  the  difficulties,  but  with  hardly  any  results. 
The  sturdy  Augustine  monk  had  been  foremost  to 
help  demolish  the  material  church  of  St.  Peter ;  he 
bombarded  it  effectively  with  the  all-powerful  mis- 
siles of  the  Holy  Scripture;  but  the  gist  of  hie  creed, 
as  a  substitute  for  the  old  hierarchy,  was  the  embodi- 
ment of  a  spiritual  papacy  which,  if  logically  carried 
out,  would  tyrannize  and  oppress  the  mind  and  con- 
science far  more  than  the  object  he  fought  so 
bitterly.  The  declaration  of  some  of  his  chief  tenets 


426  BEN  BEOR. 

were  not  slow  in  rejoicing  to  see  their  ministers  of  the 
Gospel  once  more  husbands  and  fathers. 

(Data  and  facts  of  this  episode  are  mostly  taken 
from  the  historian,  J.  H.  Merle  d'Aubigne.) 

Section  VII. — Greed-Malting  and  its  Results. 

As  long  as  the  great  cause  of  the  Reformation 
was  in  its  primary  stage  of  development,  its  evolu- 
tionary work  was  militant  only ;  its  attacks  were 
directed  against  the  overwhelmingly  abused  power  of 
Catholicism.  But  after  the  period  of  negation  and 
destruction  passed  over ;  after  the  first  enthusiasm 
of  its  promulgators  had  accomplished  complete 
severance  from  their  mother  of  Rome ;  after  priests 
and  princes  had  joined  forces  to  dissolve  partnership 
with  the  old  faith — a  new  era  came,  as  it  logically 
must  come,  reconstructing  upon  the  debris  of  the 
wrecked  building  of  a  past  religion  the  new  edifice 
of  another.  Had  there  been  but  one  chief  leader, 
this  goal  could  prove  of  no  great  difficulty.  But  the 
impulse  given-  at  Wittenberg  acted  with  rapidity, 
spreading  in  its  velocity  throughout  the  continent. 
Germany,  with  Luther  and  Melanchthon,  did  not 
long  remain  alone.  Switzerland  and  its  Zwingli 
loomed  up  as  a  contemporary.  France  and  her 
Calvin  came  next.  Holland  and  the  Netherlands 
had  their  Esch  and  Yoe.  In  Scandinavia,  two 
brothers,  Olaf  and  Lars  Peterson,  headed  the  new 
religious  movement.  In  England  and  Scotland  the 
Reformation  took  a  political  as  well  as  a  religious 
tendency  ;  WyclifFe  and  the  Lollards  were  the  fore- 
most representatives  of  the  new  faith.  Henry  VIII. 
stood  here  at  the  head  of  the  political  cause  against 
the  Pope  and  his  authority.  In  every  land  and 
country  it  boiled  and  fermented  among  the  rulers 
and  the  people,  joining  the  procession  m  the  march 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  427 

onward.  Had  all  these  united  in  one  strong  "new 
church/'  they  might  have  stood  against  the  world ; 
but,  unfortunately  for  them,  every  one  of  the  leaders 
had  sprung  from  the  very  bosom  of  the  old  church, 
and  had  imbibed  from  earliest  training  some  strong 
and  unconquerable  Catholic  predilections  which  be- 
came controling  in  the  several  spheres  where  they 
now  moved.  It  is  not  in  human  nature  to  throw 
offat  will  the  impressions  ingrained  during  childhood. 

The  views  of  the  leaders  were  as  different  and 
diversified  as  their  characters  and  the  peculiar  traits 
of  their  native  countries.  Each  one  set  to  work  to 
formulate  a  creed  of  his  own.  Soon  there  were 
almost  as  many  Christian  sects  as  there  were  chief- 
tains in  the  cause  of  the  Reformation.  And  it  did 
not  take  long  ere  these  antagonized  one  another  as 
much,  and  in  several  instances  more,  than  they  did 
their  arch-enemy  of  Rome.  Their  very  worst  foe 
could  not  have  wished  it  better;  and  while  every 
Papist  rejoiced  over  this  family  feud,  the  Anti-Mes- 
siah, myself  their  prime  antagonist,  helped  on  the 
foment  and  disturbance  in  the  most  sly  and  under- 
hand fashion  possible. 

Luther  distinguished  himself  principally  in  his 
pride  and  inflexible  temper  in  keeping  up  the  divi- 
sion. Melanchthon,  with  his  mild  and  gentle  disposi- 
tion, tried  everything  in  his  power  to  bridge  over 
some  of  the  difficulties,  but  with  hardly  any  results. 
The  sturdy  Augustine  monk  had  been  foremost  to 
help  demolish  the  material  church  of  St.  Peter;  he 
bombarded  it  effectively  with  the  all-powerful  mis- 
siles of  the  Holy  Scripture;  but  the  gist  of  hie  creed, 
as  a  substitute  for  the  old  hierarchy,  was  the  embodi- 
ment of  a  spiritual  papacy  which,  if  logically  carried 
out,  would  tyrannize  and  oppress  the  mind  and  con- 
science far  more  than  the  object  he  fought  so 
bitterly.  The  declaration  of  some  of  his  chief  tenets 


428  BEN  BEOR. 

was  so  contradictory  and  incompatible  as  to  lead 
directly  back  to  Rome,  instead  of  forever  parting 
with  it.  Among  others,  he  maintained:  (1)  That 
sacred  Scripture  is  the  source  of  all  authority.  And 
yet,  barely  was  the  ink  dry  with  which  he  penned 
this  sweeping  sentence,  when  in  1543  he  declared  the 
laws  of  the  Old  Testament,  inclusive  of  the  Decalogue, 
forever  annulled.  (2)  We  must  be  sived  not  by 
our  works,  but  by  our  faith.  (Der  Glaube  allein 
macht  selig.) 

Could  he  have  looked  through  a  spiritual  telescope 
at  these  incongruous  principles,  he  would  have  seen 
in  the  distant  focus  "  Tetzel  justified  "  in  the  sale  of 
absolutions.  The  faith  of  the  simple  country 
folks  in  these  sacred  paper  promises  would,  under 
Luther's  own  auspices,  require  not  his  reformation ; 
their  belief  ought  to  be  their  salvation.  Therefore 
Tetzel  was  not  wrong !  The  heart  of  the  old  sturdy 
Reformer  was  in  the  right  place,  but  his  head  ran 
away  even  in  some  of  the  great  essentials  of  his  pon- 
derous work.  Soon  he  found  himself  at  loggerheads 
and  enmity  with  his  confreres  and  chief  fellow- 
workers.  No  argument  or  persuasion  could  reconcile 
him  with  the  clear-reasoning  Zwingli  and  the  more 
erudite  Calvin,  in  spite  of  the  very  best  efforts  of  their 
noble  and  sovereign  friends.  Here  the  germ  was 
planted  that  grew  to  such  bloody  harvests  later  on 
between  the  dissenters,  which  was  to  ripen  after  many 
centuries  to  come. 

Here  was  also  a  physiological  explanation  of  the 
difference  in  the  attitude  which  the  great  Reformer 
took  towards  the  Hebrews.  When  Reuchlin,  their 
supreme  friend,  was  dead  and  his  influence  no 
longer  prevailed,  they  became  a  thorn  in  Luther's 
side.  His  faith-principle  compelled  him  to  discard 
the  Old  Testament,  whose  closing  sentences  were 
a  contradiction  in  words  and  spirit  of  his  new 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  429 

hobby.  "  The  end  of  all  things  is,  fear  God  and  obey 
His  commands,  for  this  is  the  end  of  man  "  (Koh- 
eleth  xii.  13).  So  he  hated  the  living  witnesses  of 
the  contradiction,  and  with  the  powerful  language  at 
his  command,  in  his  old  age  undid  the  kindness  of 
his  youth  and  exceeded  in  vituperation  and  malig- 
nity the  worst  of  hatred  against  the  Jews  and  their 
literature. 

The  storm  brewing  in  every  quarter  against  the 
Reformation  broke  forth  in  fearful  fury  without 
much  delay.  It  started  in  Switzerland,  where  can- 
tons were  soon  arrayed  against  cantons.  Zwingli, 
with  a  handful  of  men,  faced  heroically  the  out- 
break ;  he  fell  pierced  by  the  lances  of  the  assailants, 
the  first  martyr  in  the  cause.  Stultified  Germany 
did  not  raise  an  arm  in  his  defense.  There  is  no 
more  pathetic  death  recorded  in  the  annals  of  history 
than  that  of  the  brave,  noble  defender  of  the  new 
faith  of  Switzerland.  In  the  ridiculously  unevenly- 
matched  battle  at  Cappel,  where  the  five  powerful 
Catholic  cantons  were  arrayed  in  treble  numbers 
against  the  dissenters  of  Zurich,  when  the  action  had 
scarcely  begun,  Zwingli  in  cuirass  and  helmet  was 
at  the  post  of  greatest  danger.  At  a  moment  when 
he  had  stooped  down  to  console  a  dying  man,  I,  Bfen 
Beor,  who  had  hurried  hither  to  take  a  hand  in  the 
fray,  followed  him  closely  during  the  entire  combat, 
hurled  now  a  heavy  stone  from  the  eminence  where  I 
had  posted  myself.  It  struck  him  on  the  head  with 
such  force  that  it  felled  him  to  the  ground  and  made 
him  speechless.  I  hurried  down  to  where  he  lay  and 
dealt  him  two  heavy  blows,  so  that  in  his  efforts  to 
rise  he  staggered  back.  He  was  fearfully  wounded. 
Twice  he  tries  to  stand,  but  now  he  receives  a  thrust 
from  my  lance ;  he  falls  back  and  sinks  on  his  knees. 
Then  he  lifts  up  his  head,  and,  gazing  with  a  calm 
eye  upon  the  trickling  blood,  exclaims  in  tremulous 


430  BEN  BEOR. 

words  :  "  What  matters  this  misfortune !  They  may 
kill  the  body,  but  they  cannot  kill  the  soul."  He 
had  scarcely  uttered  them  when  he  sank  backwards. 
There,  under  a  tree,  ever  afterwards  called  the 
"  Zwingli  pear-tree,"  he  remained  lying  on  his  back 
with  clasped  hands  and  eyes  turned  upwards  to 
heaven.  Two  soldiers  were  prowling  over  the  bat- 
tle-field.' When  they  came  near  the  Reformer,  one 
asked  the  dying  man :  "  Do  you  wish  for  a  priest  to 
confess  ?  "  Zwingli,  unable  to  speak,  made  signs  in 
the  negative.  "If  you  cannot  speak,"  said  the 
other,  "  at  least  think  of  the  Mother  of  God  and  call 
upon  the  saints."  The  expiring  man  again  shook 
his  head.  "No  doubt,"  exclaimed  the  first,  "you 
are  one  of  the  heretics  of  the  city."  The  other 
being  curious  to  see  the  face  of  his  foe,  stooped  down 
and  turned  the  head  of  Zwingli  in  the  direction  of  a 
camp-fire  which  burned  near  the  spot.  The  soldier 
immediately  let  it  fall  to  the  ground.  "I  think," 
said  he,  amazed  and  surprised,  "I  think  it  is 
Zwingli."  At  this  instant  comes  a  brutal  captain 
of  Unterwalden.  He  has  heard  the  last  word  of  the 
soldier.  "  Zwingli !  "  he  exclaims ;  "that  vile  heretic, 
that  traitor ! "  Now  raising  his  sword,  he  struck 
the  dying  Christian  on  the  throat  and  shouted  in 
violent  passion  :  "  Die.,  obstinate  heretic  !  "  Then 
the  prostrate  man  expired.  All  this  happened 
October  11,  1531. 

France  was  not  slow  in  following  the  struggle  to 
the  death  of  the  new  spirit  which  had  invaded  her 
religion,  the  Catholic  Church.  The  learned  Calvin 
had  given  the  first  active  impulse  to  the  Reformation 
movement,  and  the  vivid  wide-awake  character  of 
the  nation  took  up  with  vehement  ardor  the  long- 
suppressed  anger  against  the  Church.  "  Hugue- 
nots," the  new  sect  called  itself,  most  likely  from  the 
chief  leader  Hugues,  although  several  other  strong 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  431 

reasons  are  given  for  that  strange  appellation.  A 
desperate  struggle  had  for  several  years  been  waged 
between  the  Catholics  and  the  Reformers.  No 
special  agency  was  required  to  keep  this  alive 
and  fiercely  raging.  The  powerful  opposing 
houses  became  the  leaders  of  the  conflict :  the  Guises 
for  Rome,  the  Condes  for  the  Huguenots.  On  the 
throne  was  the  bigoted,  weak-minded  Charles  IX., 
but  his  masculine,  cruel  and  scheming  mother,  Cath- 
erine de  Medici,  was  the  real  sovereign.  Never 
had  Ben  Beor  a  representative  who  more  eagerly 
would  join  my  plans  than  this  woman.  The  feeble 
Charles  and  his  sickly  brother  Henry  were  childless. 
It  was  certain  that  Henry  of  Navarre,  of  the  Bour- 
bon line,  an  adherent  of  the  Reformers,  would  be 
the  next  heir  to  the  throne.  He  was  by  birth  and 
education  a  Protestant,  and  therefore  fiercely  hated 
by  the  whole  family.  In  1570  a  truce  was  patched 
up  between  the  parties,  who  up  to  this  time  were 
engaged  in  continual  war.  This  peace  was  to  be 
made  more  secure  by  a  marriage  between  the  heretic 
crown  prince,  now  only  20  years  old,  and  Margaret 
of  Valois,  sister  of  the  king,  sacrificed  to  this  politi- 
cal scheme,  as  she  had  been  previously  engaged  to 
and  dearly  loved  the  Duke  of  Guise. 

The  ceremony  was  to  take  place  on  the  18th  of 
August,  1572.  The  dowager  queen  had  in  the 
arrangement  completed  a  plot  which  for  treachery, 
deception  and  horror  of  execution  surpassed  any 
tragedy  of  ancient  or  modern  times.  The  Hu- 
guenot leaders  were  enticed  to  come  to  Paris  to  be 
destroyed  in  a  general  massacre.  After  that  the 
same  scenes  were  to  be  enacted  in  the  different  parts 
of  the  kingdom,  until  the  Protestants  should  be 
utterly  extinguished  on  French  soil.  It  was  secretly 
arranged  that  this  should  begin  at  the  sounding  of 
the  matin  bell  Irom  the  Church  of  St.  Germain  on 


432  BEN   BEOR. 

the  morning  of  St.  Bartholomew's  day.  Orders  were 
confidentially  issued  to  all  the  provincial  cities  of  the 
realm  to  proceed  in  the  same  manner,  until  none  of 
the  Huguenots  should  be  left  to  trouble  the  peace 
of  Catholic  France.  The  terrible  programme  was 
carried  out  to  the  letter.  Charles  IX.  hesitated  at 
first  to  sign  the  mandate,  but  was  overborne  by  his 
mother  and  the  Duke  of  Guise.  In  accordance  with 
the  warrant,  the  inhuman  duke,  at  early  dawn  of  this 
twenty-fourth  day  of  August,  sallied  out  with  bands 
of  his  followers.  He  made  his  way  to  the  hotel 
where  Coligni  lodged.  This  old  admiral  was  the 
head  and  leader  of  the  Huguenots.  His  assassins 
burst  into  the  sleeping  apartment  and  stabbed  their 
helpless  victim  to  death.  They  then  threw  his  body 
out  of  the  window  into  the  street.  Guise  was  wait- 
ing below  on  horseback.  He  dismounted  and  wiped 
the  dust  from  the  murdered  man's  face  to  make  sure 
that  there  was  no  life  remaining.  The  head  of  the 
great  Coligni  was  cut  off  and  sent  as  a  trophy  to  the 
Cardinal  of  Lorraine.  Now  the  bells  of  St.  Germain 
were  sounded  and  the  general  massacre  of  helpless 
men,  women  and  children,  began.  Paris  soon  reeked 
like  a  charnel-house.  The  gutters  of  the  streets 
flowed  with  blood.  The  residence  of  every  Hugue- 
not had  been  marked,  and  now  woe  to 'those  unfor- 
tunates !  The  city  became  a  horrid  uproar.  Crowds 
of  fugitives  surged  along  the  streets,  pursued  by 
other  crowds  with  drawn  swords,  dripping  with 
gore.  When  the  pitiful  wail  of  the  dying  began  to 
rise  from  all  quarters,  the  King  suffered  a  momen- 
tary shudder.  But  he  overcame  this  soon  and  shared 
with  his  mother  and  friends  their  insane  delight. 
He,  with  Catherine  and  his  brother  Henry  of  Anjou, 
took  his  station  at  one  of  the  windows  of  the  Louvre, 
and  with  his  own  hands  fired  shot  after  shot  from  his 
fowling-piece  after  the  fleeing  heretics.  For  seven 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  .  433 

days  the  murderous  work  continued,  until  at  last 
death,  drunk  with  the  blood  of  thirty  thousand 
victims,  chanted  "  Te  Deum  laudamus."  In  some  of 
the  principal  provincial  cities  the  governors  refused 
to  obey  the  diabolical  edicts  of  the  court.  The  brave 
mayor  of  Bayonne  answered  the  mandate  in  these 
words:  "Your  majesty  has  many  faithful  servants 
in  this  loyal  town,  but  not  one  executioner."  In 
other  places  the  scenes  were  almost  as  horrible  as 
those  in  Paris.  The  city  of  Meaux  ran  with  the 
blood  of  the  reformers.  At  Lacharite  the  massacre 
occurred  on  the  26th,  and  at  Orleans  on  the  27th. 
Nor  did  this  dreadful  drama  cease  until  October  3d, 
when  it  stained  with  the  crimson  life-fluid  the  surf 
beyond  Bordeaux. 

Poor  Germany !  In  all  the  travail  of  civilization's 
efforts  and  labors,  the  scene  of  the  contest  and  the 
battle-ground  of  the  warring  passions  were  always 
concentrated  here.  Luther,  Calvin  and  Zwingli  were 
dead,  but  their  revolutionary  work  lived  and  grew 
into  ponderous  dimensions.  Thus  far  the  struggle 
had  been  local.  At  first  Germany  was  affected ;  then 
came  Switzerland,  France,  England  and  the  Nether- 
lands. As  to  Spain,  the  Reformation  made  no 
progress.  Portugal  and  Italy  despised  the  move- 
ment and  proceeded  in  the  old  persecuting  and 
intolerant  track.  Thus  far,  however,  there  had  been 
no  general  or  international  conflicts  between  the  Cath- 
olics and  Protestants.  Many  symptoms  had  already 
appeared  of  the  formation  of  a  general  league  among 
the  states  which  still  held  steadfast  to  the  ancient 
religion  against  the  Reformed  faith.  Nor  can  any 
one  who  understands  the  scope  of  my  anti-messianic 
policy,  to  uphold  the  power  of  the  Church  and  to 
recover  the  sadly  lost  unity  that  until  lately  had 
prevailed,  fail  to  perceive  that  all  my  efforts  now 
were  spent  to  rally  into  one  phalanx  those  sovereigns 


434    .  BEN  BEOR. 

who  still  recognized  the  supremacy  of  Rome,  and  to 
urge  them  on  for  a  grand  final  struggle  to  recover 
the  lost  inheritance.  The  time  had  come,  now  or 
never,  when  I  must  move  all  the  organic  strength  of 
what  is  left  of  Catholicism  for  the  suppression  of  the 
great  Protestant  schism.  It  brought  with  it  as  a 
consequence  the  combination  of  the  reformed  states 
to  prevent  such  a  result.  Germany  was  the  doomed 
soil  on  which  this  harrowing  issue  must  be  fought. 
It  commenced  with  the  storming  of  the  Council  Hall 
in  Prague  on  the  23d  of  May,  1618.  History 
denominates  it  "  The  Thirty  Years'  War." 

It  is  not  my  scope  to  enter  into  the  details  of  this 
fearfully  prolonged  clash  of  arms  in  which  almost 
all  Europe  participated.  The  earth  never  had  seen 
such  misery,  such  indescribable  suffering  and  havoc. 
The  nations  poured  out  their  blood  and  their  treas- 
ures. Patriotism  expended  its  utmost  force  to  stand 
erect.  Loyalty  to  chosen  causes  was  never  so  matched 
before  in  straining  every  nerve  for  victory.  Heroism 
of  the  sublimest  as  well  as  of  the  most  brutal 
essence  never  flagged  throughout  all  this  long  period 
to  achieve  wonders  on  both  sides.  Human  endur- 
ance was  tried  to  the  snap  of  the  muscles  and  nerves, 
to  hold  out  often  against  the  inevitable.  A  galaxy 
of  men  crowns  these  tear-washed  annals.  Why 
repeat  here  the  names  which  every  school-child  com- 
mits to  memory,  or  battles  which  fill  the  pages  of 
every  common  history?  Alas!  out  of  the  perished 
lives  of  the  millions,  the  devastated  lands  and  indi- 
vidual estates,  the  hunger  and  the  suffering  of  the 
despairing  masses,  the  conflagration  of  the  cities, 
towns  and  hamlets,  where  the  fire-fiend  devours  what 
battle  has  left ;  the  cries  of  anguish  and  despair  of 
starving  widows  and  orphans  ;  out  of  the  pestilence 
and  fever  which  stride  in  ghastly  array  over  the 
battle-scarred  countries  and  transform  half  the  con- 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  435 

tinent  into  one  festering,  panting  lazaretto;  out  of 
the  fathomless,  indescribable,  unspeakable,  writhing, 
quivering,  revolting,  hellish  torments  of  humanity — 
what  paltry,  disappointing,  woeful  results  in  the  grand 
finale  of  the  re-established  peace!  In  the  city  hall 
of  Osnabriick,  on  the  24th  day  of  October,  it  was 
decreed  by  the  nations'  congress  there  assembled, 
and  after  adjustment  of  the  political  issues,  that  reli- 
gious freedom  was  now  and  henceforth  and  forever 
guaranteed  and  confirmed  to  the  Lutherans  and 
Calvinists.  All  my  efforts  had  been  in  vain — "Sic 
transit  gloria  mundi!" 


PHANTASMAGORIA  XXI. 

SABBATHAI   ZEVI. 

Section  I. — Beautiful  Esther. 

While  all  the  rest  of  Europe  was  fighting  for 
liberty  of  conscience,  in  the  Southern  lands  the  brutal 
work  of  persecution  went  on  with  ever-increasing 
fury  and  callous  barbarity.  It  was  almost  exclu- 
sively directed  against  the  hapless,  exiled  Hebrews, 
who,  under  promise  of  security  for  their  lives  and 
scant  possessions,  were  induced  to  settle  for  the  time 
being  under  the  government  of  King  loao  II.  of 
Portugal.  On  payment  of  extravagant  sums  of 
money,  Rabbi  Isaac  Aboab  succeeded  in  securing 
temporary  homes  for  the  outcast  people.  Every 
one  so  coming  had  to  submit  to  a  head-tax  of  two 
ducats,  an  oppressive  amount  for  those  poor  creatures, 
who  had  saved  nothing  when  driven  from  their  old 
homes.  They  were,  however,  largely  assisted  by 
charitable  brethren  from  all  over  the  world.  On 


436  BEN  BEOR. 

paying  the  stated  amount  they  were  permitted  to 
remain  here  in  security  for  the  period  of  eight  months. 
The  king  himself  provided  cheap  transportation  in 
his  ships  during  the  granted  time.  It  was  stipulated 
that  any  Hebrew  found  in  his  kingdom  at  the  expi- 
ration of  such  short  period,  without  special  permit, 
should  forfeit  personal  liberty  and  be  sold  into 
slavery.  Over  twenty  thousand  families  accepted 
these  terms  of  momentary  relief.  Once  domiciled, 
their  good  behavior,  their  cultured  ways  and  their 
pitiful  condition  insured  them  the  warm  sympathy 
of  Christian  neighbors.  There  were  among  the 
Hebrews  profoundly  learned  astronomers  and  mathe- 
maticians, and  the  ambitious  sovereign  was  eager  to 
engage  them  in  his  service.  But  nature  itself  seemed 
to  conspire  against  the  forsaken  people. 

Black  pestilence,  the  never-ending  scourge  of  these 
times,  broke  out  again  among  the  inhabitants,  who, 
in  their  ignorance  and  superstition,  assigned  it  as  a 
punishment  that  their  ruler  had  permitted  the  Israel- 
ites to  come  into  his  land.  When,  therefore,  the 
eight  months  had  expired,  the  callous  command  went 
forth  that  all  who  would  not  submit  to  baptism 
must  depart.  So  most  of  the  unfortunates  were 
huddled  like  cattle  into  ships,  consigned  to  the  mer- 
cies of  inhuman  captains,  who,  after  starving  and 
maltreating  their  poor  passengers,  landed  them  on 
distant  coasts  in  Arabia  and  Africa,  there  to  become 
the  victims-  of  the  wild  tribes  or  the  prey  of  beasts  of 
the  wilderness.  But  even  this  was  not  the  worst. 
The  stone-hearted  monarch  ordered  all  Jewish 
children  under  ten  years  of  age  taken  from  their 
parents,  to  be  exported  by  special  ships  to  some 
island  across  the  ocean  and  there  to  be  raised  as 
Christians.  The  heartrending  scenes  which  ensued 
are  beyond  description.  One  mother  sank  flat  on 
her  face  before  the  king  as  he  rode  by,  and  with 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  437 

sobs  and  wailing  besought  him  to  return  her  only 
little  boy.  The  king  put  his  spurs  savagely  into 
the  flanks  of  his  horse,  but  the  beast,  more  merciful 
than  his  rider,  passed  over  the  prostrate  form  of  the 
woman,  not  hurting  her. 

Among  the  distinguished  families  who  preferred 
sham  baptism  to  exile  and  the  loss  of  an  immense 
fortune  was  Francesco  Perez  Mendes,  a  member  of 
an  old  Marrannen  family  of  the  Bevenisti.  His 
beautiful,  noble-minded  wife,  Donna  Gracia  Mende- 
sia,  joined  him  in  this  outward  change  of  religion; 
but  both  remained  true  in  their  hearts  and  souls  to 
the  faith  of  their  forefathers.  Observing  with  over- 
scrupulous zeal  all  the  outward  requirements  of  the 
Church,  they  attended  mass  regularly  and  went  to 
confession  as  often  as  the  best  of  Papists,  in  order 
to  avoid  even  the  slightest  suspicion  of  backsliding. 
In  the  privacy  of  their  lives,  however,  they  were 
most  pathetically  devoted  to  their  ancient  religion, 
and  as  far  as  possible  practiced  it  in  the  recesses  of 
the  family.  For  generations  the  ancestors  of  hus- 
band and  wife  had  been  prosperous  bankers  in 
Lisbon,  and  now  the  united  houses  were  counted  as 
the  wealthiest  and  most  influential  of  all  Europe. 
There  was  hardly  any  reigning  prince  or  potentate 
who  had  not  become  indebted  to  the  firm,  and  who 
had  not  entrusted  at  one  time  or  another  to  their 
sagacity  and  scrupulous  honesty  the  finances  of  court 
and  state. 

In  the  fearful  crisis  which  had  now  overtaken  the 
Jews,  the  Mendes  became  the  veritable  angels  for 
the  distressed  and  despairing.  This  had  to  be  done 
with  the  utmost  caution,  for  if  detected  in  their 
princely  charities  and  the  superhuman  exercise  of 
benevolence,  the  never-sleeping  Inquisition  would 
eagerly  have  made  an  end  to  their  existence  and 
swallowed  up  their  coveted  fortune.  The  means  by 


438  BEN  BEOB. 

which  they  successfully  reached  the  countless  chan- 
nels of  misery  never  became  known,  despite  the 
argus  eyes  of  their  prying  enemies.  It  became  a 
common  saying  among  the  relieved  sufferers,  that  a 
second  "  Beautiful  Esther  "  had  arisen  to  stand  by 
them  in  the  hour  of  their  great  need,  and  daily 
prayers  and  blessings  were  showered  upon  the 
unknown  benefactors.  In  the  middle  of  the  six- 
teenth century  Mendes  died,  leaving  to  his  wife  the 
care  of  their  only  daughter  Reyna.  He  endowed  the 
widow  with  his  share  of  the  boundless  fortune  and 
appointed  her  the  head  of  the  banking  house,  which 
consisted  of  several  members  of  his  and  her  family. 
She  was  a  phenomenal  woman,  gifted  with  all  the 
graces  and  comeliness  of  her  sex,  possessing  a  won- 
derful genius,  sagacity,  foresight  and  administrative 
ability.  .Although  she  loved  intensely  the  land  of 
her  birth,  it  now  became  unbearable  to  her. 

When  the  greatest  danger  to  her  co-religionists  had 
passed, .  she  quietly  and  gradually  wound  up  the 
financial  affairs  of  the  house  in  Lisbon,  turned  into 
ready  cash  and  bills  of  exchange  its  assets,  and  leav- 
ing what  real  estate  could  not  be  disposed  of  to  the 
tender  mercies  of  the  government  and  priests,  then 
secretly  went  with  the  whole  family  to  Antwerp 
in  Belgium.  At  this  place  her  nephew,  loao 
Migues,  had  long  since  established  a  powerful  branch 
of  the  banking  house,  and  from  here  the  family  of 
the  Mendes,  with  their  high  standing  in  the  Dutch 
community,  their  exhaustless  means  and  influence, 
soon  became  the  centre  of  a  colony  of  the  fugitive 
Marrannen. 

When  the  report  of  these  doings  reached  the  heads 
of  the  southern  Inquisition  it  was  feared  that  a  nuc- 
leus of  a  powerful  opposition  against  them  was 
growing  up  in  the  northern  lands,  and  I,  Ben  Beor, 
being  near  the  seat  of  the  trouble,  was  commissioned 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  439 

to  thwart  the  baneful  efforts.  Charles  V.,  grandson 
of  Ferdinand  and  Isabella,  was  now  Emperor  of 
Germany  and  King  of  Spain.  By  right  of  his  mater- 
nal grandmother  Maria  he  was  the  regent  also  of 
Belgium  and  the  Netherlands.  Cognizant  and 
envious  of  the  great  wealth  of  the  Mendes,  I  watched 
eagerly  for  an  opportunity  to  engulf  them  with 
criminal  charges  and  have  their  treasures  and  estates 
confiscated. 

Furnished  with  authority  to  investigate  the  past 
lives  of  the  several  members  of  these  New  Christians 
and  watch  over  their  present  doings,  I  repaired  to 
Antwerp,  and  there  succeeded  in  cultivating  a  close 
and  intimate  relationship  with  the  banking  family. 
I  had  introduced  myself  as  a  government  inspector 
of  imports,  and  as  such  had  the  right  of  access  to  the 
books  of  the  firm.  These  I  found  scrupulously  cor- 
rect. They  were  in  charge  of  the  widow's  brother- 
in-law,  Diego  Mendes.  An  expert  accountant, 
knowing  that  the  written  affairs  of  the  house  were 
subject  at  any  moment  to  official  examination,  his 
work  was  done  so  as  to  be  ever  ready  for  such  trial. 
It  was  impossible  to  find  throughout  the  extensive 
monetary  and  mercantile  affairs  any  shortcomings. 
During  the  transaction  of  this  official  business  the 
woman  was  constantly  by  iny  side,  and  it  was 
remarkable  what  memory  and  judgment  she  dis- 
played in  the  explanation  of  such  points  as  required 
statements  of  detail  My  conduct  towards  her  was 
studiously  suave  and  cordial.  From  debits  and 
credits  the  conversation  often  turned  to  topics  of 
religion  and  politics,  for  I  secretly  had  planned  to 
draw  her  into  some  committal  by  which  1  might  get 
a  clue  for  criminating  charges.  But  the  woman 
proved  to  be  my  master  in  finesse  and  discernment. 
She  must  have  instinctively  guessed  the  nature  of 
iny  objects.  Never  evading  a  question,  always 


440  BEN  BEOR. 

ready  to  make  an  answer,  yet  a  trained  lawyer  could 
not  have  been  more  precise  and  less  liable  to  mis- 
construction or  misrepresentations. 

These  people  have  become  by  their  sad  experiences 
wary  like  foxes  and  sly  like  serpents,  and  these 
traits  had  culminated  in  this  woman  to  masterly 
perfection.  In  fact,  it  is  astounding  how,  through 
all  the  long  years  of  tribulation,  the  weaker  sex  in 
Israel  bore  bravely,  unflinchingly  and  loyally  the 
greater  share  of  the  sorrowful  fate  of  the  race.  The 
preservation  of  the  stock  must  be  largely  ascribed  to 
the  patience,  fortitude  and  moral  character  of  its 
females,  who,  despite  the  greater  sensitiveness  of  feel- 
ing and  the  physical  disparity  of  sex,  never  swerved 
from  the  path  of  duty  or  forsook  the  allegiance  to 
their  faith  and  kindred.  In  many  instances  they 
might  have  saved  life  and  purchased  comfort — yea, 
even  wealth  and  rank — by  abandoning  the  cause  of 
their  people  and  going  over  to  the  enemy ;  but  in  all 
trials,  with  misery  and  death  before  their  eyes,  they 
proved  even  more  steadfast  and  firm  than  their  male 
relatives  and  friends. 

My  occupation  with  the  books  was  suddenly  in- 
terrupted. Diego  Mendes  one  afternoon  was  taken 
seriously  ill  and  had  to  be  carried  to  his  home.  Not- 
withstanding the  best  medical  attendance  and  the  most 
assiduous  nursing,  he  died  in  a  few  days,  leaving  a 
disconsolate  widow,  the  younger  sister  of  Signora 
Gracia,  and  an  only  daughter,  named  after  the  aunt — 
Gracianna.  There  was  the  most  intense,  heart- 
rending lamentation,  mourning  and  weeping.  At 
the  funeral  obsequies  all  Antwerp  seemed  to  have 
turned  out  to  show  last  honors  to  the  deceased  and 
highest  respect  to  the  bereaved  family.  From  the 
deathbed  scene  I,  however,  received  the  clue  which 
I  had  been  seeking  so  assiduously.  Credible  infor- 
mation was  at  hand  that  after  a  priest  had  bestowed 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  441 

the  last  sacrament  on  the  dying  man  according  to 
the  rites  of  the  Catholic  Church,  and  after  the  min- 
istrant  had  departed,  a  rabbi  entered  the  gloomy 
chamber  and,  while  all  the  others  left  so  as  not  to  be 
witnesses  in  case  of  an  accusation,  the  Jewish  prayers 
and  ceremonies  for  the  dying  had  been  performed 
also.  If  this  could  be  proven  it  was  the  worst  form 
of  "Judaizing" — would  have  subjected  the  entire 
estate  to  confiscation  and  every  member  of  the  family 
to  imprisonment.  All  depended  now  on  finding  the 
rabbi.  Had  we  been  in  Spain  I  could  have  bought 
any  number  of  witnesses  on  threat  of  torture ;  but 
among  the  stolid  boors  of  the  North,  without  a  grain 
of  sentimentality  in  their  compositions,  sturdy  and 
unbendable  in  their  feeling  of  right  and  justice,  the  In- 
quisition was  already  in  bad  odor.  Here  it  needed  at 
least  evidence  of  presumptive  guilt  before  the  native 
officers  would  move,  and  then  in  many  instances 
everything  went  on  so  slowly  and  deliberately  that 
victims  were  rather  allowed  to  escape  than  be  perse- 
cuted. Never  before  had  I  known  the  power  of 
money  exercised  so  effectively  as  here.  Wielded  by 
a  woman  like  Gracia,  of  such  tact,  sagacity  and 
shrewd  calculation,  every  step  I  made  was  counter- 
balanced by  gold  and  popularity.  The  breath  of 
the  reformatory  spirit  had  been  wafted,  too,  across 
the  borders  from  Germany  and  fiercely  agitated  the 
masses  of  the  Dutch  nation/ kindred  in  reasoning 
and  belief  to  their  Teutonic  neighbors.  Nothing 
but  the  iron  hand  of  Spain,  which  held  in  its  clutch 
the  throat  of  these  people,  prevented  the  religious 
revolution  from  conquering  their  land.  When  I 
therefore  brought  the  accusation  of  Judaizing  against 
the  Mendes  family  before  the  imperial  Fiscal, 
somebody  informed  them  of  the  impending  danger, 
and  every  step  in  the  prosecution  met  with  delay  and 
procrastination. 


442  BEN  BEOB. 

It  happened  at  this  time,  fortunately  for  my  victims, 
that  the  court  at  Vienna  was  in  pressing  and  imme- 
diate want  of  large  sums  of  money.  Negotiations  had 
been  under  way  to  furnish  such,  already  before  the 
death  of  Diego.  Now  these  were  brought  to  an 
.issue  by  the  sagacious  woman  giving  the  most  favor- 
able terms  to  Charles  V.,  on  condition  that  all  pro- 
ceedings against  her  and  hers  before  the  Holy  Office 
should  be  unconditionally  quashed.  The  urgency 
of  the  Emperor's  troubles  caused  him  to  finish  the 
transaction  by  acceptance  of  this  clause.  The  secu- 
rities being  exchanged  and  the  money  paid  over,  all 
my  efforts  proved  nugatory.  My  connection  with 
the  persecuting  plot  had  been  kept  secret,  and  my 
position  therefore  was  not  compromised,  so  that  I 
could  continue  to  watch  and  wait.  Seeing  that  I 
was  outgeneraled  and  foiled  everywhere  by  the  sly 
Gracia,  and  could  do  nothing  against  her  ever  wide- 
awake capacity,  I  directed  myself  now  to  her 
younger  widowed  sister,  Bianca,  bringing  myself  into 
her  good  graces,  and  from  the  familiar  connection  in 
her  neighborhood  spying  out  some  plausible  way  to 
overwhelm  the  hated  house  with  disaster. 

This  woman  was  as  giddy,  senseless,  frivolous  and 
vain  as  her  sister  was  noble,  firm  and  strong  of 
character.  She  listened  readily  to  my  honeyed  words, 
and  I  soon  was  in  high  favor  and  confidence  with  her, 
contrary  to  the  warnings  from  some  other  members 
of  the  family.  But  I  could  learn  very  little  from 
her  concerning  the  plans  and  mano3uvres  of  the 
firm;  she  was  never  trusted  to  know  its  internal 
affairs  and  had  been  kept  in  ignorance  of  its  secret 
proceedings.  She  often  complained  to  me  about 
this,  what  she  called,  unfairness  and  injustice,  and  I 
instilled  into  -her  mind  poisonous  discontent  and 
rebellion  against  her  kindred.  This  much  we  both 
could  readily  perceive,  that  there  was  unusual  activity 


HISTORICAL    PHANTASMAGORIA.  443 

going  on  in  the  bank.  Loads  of  specie  were  being 
received  and  shipped  to  foreign  parts.  Sales  of 
estates  were  made,  even  under  unfavorable  condi- 
tions, and  it  seemed  as  if  a  concentrated  gathering 
of  all  the  available  assets  of  the  house  was  in 
progress. 

Nearly  two  years  elapsed  when,  at  this  juncture, 
a  strange  event  transpired  which  bore  serious  con- 
sequences. The  nephew,  loao  Migues,  unexpectedly 
and  to  the  surprise  of  everybody,  eloped  with  Reyna, 
the  only  daughter  of  Gracia.  The  beautiful,  accom- 
plished and  finely-educated  girl  had  been  admired 
and  wooed  by  the  highest  nobles  and  her  hand  was 
sought  by  lords  and  princes.  The  young  couple  fled 
to  Venice.  The  mother  resolved  forthwith  to  follow 
them,  and  gave  notice  to  the  sister  to  prepare  for 
accompanying  her.  I  received  a  polite  invitation  to 
form  one  of  the  escorts  of  the  family.  This  was,  as 
may  be  readily  surmised,  accepted.  The  whole  pro- 
ceeding had  been  a  very  strange  affair,  masterly 
planned  and  executed.  When  we  arrived  at  Venice 
we  were  received  with  open  arms  and  jubilant  greet- 
ings by  the  elopers.  Here  I  learned,  too,  that  the 
palatial  residences  in  Antwerp  had  been  sold,  the 
business  wound  up  entirely,  and  that  a  single  con- 
fidential clerk  only  was  left  behind  to  attend  to  little 
matters  which  remained  unfinished.  The  clandestine 
marriage  was  a  successful  ruse  for  the  whole  family 
to  emigrate  unmolested.  And  I,  benighted  fool  that 
I  was,  had  been  circumvented  by  this  brave  woman, 
without  even  a  suspicion  that  all  was  pre-arranged 
and  schemed  beforehand. 

Venice  was  no  longer  the  mistress  of  the  sea. 
Her  continual  wars  with  neighboring  states,  caused 
by  arrogant  pugnacity,  had  gradually  brought  the 
proud  city  of  commerce  and  maritime  power  into 
decline.  Especially  had  she  been  chastised  by  the 


444  BEN  BEOR. 

Turks  under  the  great  Sultan  Suleiman,  who  exer- 
cised now  a  kind  of  dictatorship  over  the  humbled  city. 
Here  I  succeeded  in  inveigling  the  discontented 
Bianca  into  a  complete  breach  with  her  sister  and 
family.  She  demanded  peremptorily  her  own  and 
her  daughter's  share  of  the  inheritance.  This  being 
resisted  by  Gracia  as  the  head  of  the  house  and  as 
the  legally  appointed  guardian  of  her  niece  Gracianna, 
a  treacherous  complaint  was  therefore  laid  before 
the  Signoria,  the  municipal  authorities  of  the  city, 
wherein  the  misguided  widow  not  only  sued  for  her 
portion  of  the  estate,  but  also  lodged  information 
that  the  firm  intended  shortly  to  transfer  the  princely 
wealth  of  the  whole  family  to  Turkey,  there  pub- 
licly to  rejoin  Judaism,  while  she  and  her  daughter 
were  determined  to  stay  as  good  Christians  at 
their  present  domicile  and  use  their  wealth  for  the 
benefit  of  the  city  and  the  Church.  The  Venetian 
authorities,  too  glad  to  get  hold  of  so  promising  a 
prey,  did  not  hesitate  a  moment  to  entertain  the 
accusation,  summoned  the  parties  before  their  courts 
and  placed  them  under  strict  surveillance  to  prevent 
their  flight.  Not  satisfied  with  having  acted  the 
despicable  part  of  informer  against  her  own  flesh 
and  blood,  Bianca  sent  me  to  France,  where  the 
house  had  large  interests,  there  to  make  charges 
against  the  Mendes  as  having  been  guilty  of  treason 
against  the  Catholic  Church  by  secretly  practicing 
the  religion  of  their  ancestors.  Henry  II.,  who 
reigned  then  in  Paris,  greedily  availed  himself  of 
this  pretext  to  confiscate  what  property  the  banking 
house  owned  in  his  realm  and  to  repudiate  the  state's 
indebtedness,  which  had  been  contracted  previously. 
Poor  Gracia!  how  all  these  unforeseen  troubles 
must  have  tried  her  great  soul,  and  how  the  treason 
of  her  dearly  loved  but  deluded  sister  must  have 
troubled  her!  Yet  she  lost  not  courage  and  soon 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  445 

became  full  mistress  of  the  painful  situation.  During 
my  temporary  absence  a  complete  reconciliation  of 
the  sisters  was  effected.  An  appeal  for  protection 
was  then  made  to  the  Sultan  Suleiman  and  powerful 
influence  brought  to  bear  upon  him.  He  peremp- 
torily demanded  the  release  of  Donna  Gracia  and 
placed  the  rights  and  liberty  of  the  family  under  his 
special  care.  Within  a  very  short  time  the  firm  was 
established  in  Constantinople,  bringing  with  them 
the  entire  family,  their  wealth  and  a  whole  train  of 
Spanish  and  Portuguese  Marrannen,  most  of  whom 
were  in  possession  of  great  riches.  Soon  their  new 
home  felt  the  beneficent  hand  of  Donna  Gracia  and 
her  kindred.  The  newcomers  formed  themselves 
into  a  colony,  joining  with  great  eclat  the  never- 
forgotten,  ever  dearly  cherished  religion  of  their 
fathers ;  building  a  magnificent  synagogue  and  erect- 
ing schools  and  colleges  as  well  as  almshouses  and 
orphan  asylums.  They  elected  the  renowned  and 
profoundly  learned  Rabbi  Joseph  Ibu-Lab,  expatri- 
ated by  Spain,  as  their  chief  spiritual  guide,  and 
they  became  from  here  the  centre  of  relief  for  the 
amelioration  of  the  pitiful  condition  among  the 
Hebrews  all  over  the  European  continent.  Poets 
and  historians  vied  with  one  another  to  do  honor 
to  the  remarkable  woman  who  now  resumed  her 
Portuguese  name  Charma,  immortalized  in  poetry 
and  prose  as  the  Second  Esther  of  the  house  of  Israel. 

Section  II. — Scientists  and  Literati. 

The  power  of  the  priests  as  far  as  to  be  a  union 
was  broken  forever.  Instead  of  warring  against  the 
masses  and  holding  them  down  in  ignorance  and 
superstition,  there  would  be,  as  became  apparent 
everywhere,  henceforth  a  continual  feud  among  the 
different  sects  and  creeds.  Persecution,  hatred  and 


446  BEN  BEOR. 

torture  would  not  cease,  but  in  the  future  these 
would  be  employed,  even  with  increased  bitterness, 
church  against  church  and  priest  against  minister. 
They  would  so  weaken  one  another  that,  as  a 
supreme  agency  of  control  over  the  minds  and  con- 
sciences, no  reliance  dared  to  be  placed  upon  either 
in  their  divided  state.  Envy,  rivalry  and  jealousy 
would  now  continue  to  undermine  what  strength 
there  had  been  heretofore  in  the  altar,  and  the  ulti- 
mate outcome,  as  could  be  clearly  foreseen,  must 
culminate  in  a  reign  of  intolerance  and  illiberalism. 
Such  was  the  cursed  result  of  the  Eeformation  and 
the  Thirty  Years'  War. 

Here  I  was,  signally  defeated  and  had  lost  my 
cause.  Worst  of  all,  this  had  been  brought  about 
largely  by  the  abuse,  scheming  and  intrigues  of  a 
wily  and  bad  clergy  in  the  Church.  And  now  an 
equally  great  danger  threatened  the  second  great 
potency  of  my  mission.  The  foundation  of  the 
thrones  became  insecure,  unknown  to  the  crowned 
heads,  but  perfectly  palpable  to  my  prophetic  sight. 
The  chains  which  had  shackled  Liberty  and  Right 
through  all  these  thousand  years  visibly  became 
rusty  and  corroded.  There  is  music  in  the  air 
which  I  can  no  longer  hush,  and  which  must  at  no 
distant  day  awake  the  slumbering  powers  of  Free- 
dom and  Truth.  Not  that  I  am  afraid  of  the  repeated 
outbreaks  by  a  brutal  and  benighted  rabble,  who  had 
before,  in  their  hunger,  despair  and  debased  serfdom, 
risen  in  revolts,  to  be  butchered  and  slain  like  wild 
beasts.  Danger  threatened  from  other  quarters  which 
all  my  cunning  and  wiles  will  not  much  longer  be 
able  to  withstand.  The  very  fact  of  its  insidious 
working  makes  it  all  the  more  irresistible.  Since 
the  last  hundred  years  there  has  arisen  a  galaxy  of 
spirits,  unprecedented  in  number  and  high  calibre, 
giants  of  minds  who  overturn  all  preconceived  sys- 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  447 

terns  of  science  and  art  and  traverse  high  into  the 
realms  of  literature.  It  is  indeed  the  golden  eia  of 
the  mind.  The  printing  press,  its  mistress,  helps 
with  omnipotent  sway  to,  disseminate  the  long 
restrained  rush  of  human  genius.  Contrary  to  my 
warning,  in  face  of  my  remonstrances,  the  sovereigns 
and  political  heads  will  not  raise  a  finger  to  suppress 
these  worst  agitators  against  their  interests ;  nay,  in 
many  instances  they  caress  the  enemy  who  batters 
down  the  very  gates  of  their  security.  Such  is  human 
nature,  fallacy  and  blindness !  They  ridicule  the  idea 
that  there  is  any  destructive  connection  between  the 
progress  of  science,  art  and  literature  and  their 
divine  right  of  absolute  rule.  Experience,  however, 
will  soon  teach  them  better.  I  can  here  cite  but 
some  of  the  most  prominent  examples. 

The  earliest  of  revolutionist-disturbers  of  ancient 
and  traditionally  founded  facts  was,  as  usual,  in  the 
fields  of  destroying  conservatism,  a  profoundly 
learned  German,  one  Nicholas  Copernicus,  born  at 
Thorn  in  Prussia,  February  19,  1473.  He  was  the 
intellectual  giant  who  at  one  fell  swoop  overthrew 
the  old  and  sanctioned  Ptolemaic  theory  of  the  stellar 
universe  and  substituted  a  new  and  unassailable 
system  in  its  place.  On  his  deathbed  he  was  handed 
the  first  copy  of  his  great  work,  "  De  Orbium  Celes- 
tium  Revolutionibus."  When  he  closed  his  eyes 
forever  on  May  24, 1543,  he  had  advanced  the  world 
in  knowledge  of  the  Cosmos  many  thousand  years, 
and  shattered  into  atoms  the  old  superstitions  con- 
cerning the  same. 

A  worthy  successor  to  this  Teutonic  mind 
appeared  in  the  distinguished  person  of  a  Danish 
nobleman,  Tycho  de  Brahe,  born  at  Knudstorp  in 
Scania,  December  4,  1546.  With  his  inherited 
wealth  he  was  able  to  follow  a  native  inclination  for 
astronomy.  As  a  favorite  of  princes  and  kings,  he 


448  BEN  BEOR. 

developed  a  knowledge  of  the  heavenly  bodies  as 
even  the  greatest  lights  of  antiquity  dared  not  dream 
of.  When  he  died  at  Prague,  the  friend  and  protegS 
of  Emperor  Rudolph,  October  13,  1601,  he  left  his 
incomplete  labors  in  worthy  hands.  The  mantle  of 
his  genius  had  fallen  upon  Johannes  Keppler,  an- 
other German,  born  at  Magstatt,  near  Weil,  in 
Wurtemberg,  December  27,  1571.  On  reaching 
manhood  he  joined  the  spreading  religious  Reforma- 
tion, and  for  his  great  ability  and  learning  was 
appointed  professor  at  the  University  in  Gratz. 
Poverty  and  family  troubles  soon  made  him  accept 
the  proffered  place  of  assistant  to  Tycho  de  Brahe, 
with  whom  he  completed  the  great  discovery  of  the 
system  of  laws  governing  the  constellations  of  the 
heavenly  bodies.  Struggling  with  adversity  and 
contrary  circumstances,  waiting  for  over  a  quarter 
of  a  century  until  enabled,  in  spite  of  all  difficulties, 
to  publish  the  result  of  his  scientific  investigations, 
"  The  Rudolphine  Tables,"  he  consoled  himself  for 
all  the  untoward  hindrances  in  his  unparalleled  mind- 
labors,  by  exclaiming  : — "God  has  waited  six  thou- 
sand years  for  an  observer,  well  may  I  wait  a 
century  for  a  reader ! "  When  he  died  of  disap- 
pointment, fatigue  and  want  of  care,  at  Ratisbon, 
whither  he  had  travelled  to  make  a  last  effort  for 
obtaining  from  the  imperial  assembly  the  arrears  of 
his  long-unpaid  salary,  his  earthly  departure  taking 
place  November  15,  1630,  he  had  already  been  pre- 
ceded by  another  human  mind-star  of  first  magni- 
tude, in  a  different  quarter  of  the  hemisphere. 

Giordano  Bruno,  born  under  the  happy  sky  of 
Italy,  at  Nola,  near  Naples,  his  natal  day  being  for- 
gotten, he  became  first  a  Dominican  monk.  Of  that 
independent  mind  which  acknowledges  no  authority, 
no  matter  how  time-hallowed,  his  skeptical  philosophy 
became  so  obnoxious  to  the  orthodox  order  that  its 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGOKIA.  449 

superior  expelled  him  from  the  ranks  and  drove  him 
from  his  native  land.  Like  unto  the  astronomers, 
his  contemporaries  who  pounded  to  piecemeal  the 
ancient  notions  of  the  movement  of  the  stars,  so  this 
friar  smashed  the  reasonings  of  the  antiquated  Aris- 
totle. To  the  careful  observer  it  must  become 
patent  that  these  newly-risen  innovators  went  hand 
in  hand  and  became  possible  only  in  their  might  and 
power  by  the  mutual  evolution  of  uncontrollable 
facts.  The  banished  Bruno  led  a  roving  life,  teach- 
ing and  lecturing  at  all  learned  institutions,  which 
were  eager,  from  the  renown  which  had  preceded 
him,  to  hear  his  eloquent  logic  and  conclusions. 
He  became  personally  acquainted  at  Wittenberg 
with  Luther  and  the  other  great  lights  of  the  Refor- 
mation. Alas!  amidst  all  the  triumphs  which 
greeted  him  everywhere,  like  a  true  son  of  the  South, 
he  pined  for  his  native  country  and  actually  returned 
at  last  to  Venice.  Here  he  was  arrested  by  the 
minions  of  the  Holy  Office,  sent  to  Rome,  and  refus- 
ing to  recant  his  radical  free-thought  principles,  was 
burned  at  the  stake  February  17,  1600. 

Contemporary  with  him  was  an  even  more  bold 
and  reformatory  spirit — Galilei  Galileo — also  an 
Italian,  born  at  Pisa,  February  15, 1564,  a  descend- 
ant of  a  noble  Florentine  family,  the  Bonajulis. 
Well  educated,  with  a  finely  developed  talent  for  the 
arts,  especially  painting  and  music,  graduating  in 
medicine,  he  finally  abandoned  all  these  for  his 
native  inclination  in  mathematics  and  the  natural 
sciences.  Through  his  inventive  genius,  for  the  first 
time  in  the  history  of  the  world  men  were  enabled  to 
observe  the  heavens  with  a  telescope,  and  greater 
surprise  and  wonderment  had  never  been  in  store  for 
his  fellow-beings.  By  its  means  he  confirmed  and 
extended  all  modern  discoveries  concerning  the  stel- 
lar spheres,  especially  the  facts  contradictory  to 


450  BEN  BEOR. 

orthodox  Bibliomania  that  the  earth  stands  still  and 
the  sun  and  planets  move  around  it.  All  the 
works  of  this  great  scholar  and  those  of  his  renowned 
predecessors  were  placed  on  the  "  Index  Expurga- 
torius,"  which  made  it  mortal  sin  for  any  good 
Christian  to  peruse  or  touch.  He  soon  was  declared 
suspected  of  heresy.  Sentence  quickly  followed, 
which  was  solemnly  pronounced  on  June  22,  1633. 
It  set  forth  the  offense  of  the  accused — teaching  con- 
demned propositions,  requiring  him  to  abjure  his 
errors  and  all  other  heresies  against  the  Catholic 
Church — condemned  him  to  be  imprisoned  during  the 
pleasure  of  the  Inquisition  and  to  recite  once  a  week 
for  three  years  the  seven  penitential  psalms. 

Galileo,  remembering  the  fate  of  some  of  his  unfor- 
tunate colleagues,  made  his  abjuration  with  all  the 
formalities  which  attended  such  proceedings.  Clad 
in  sackcloth  and  kneeling,  he  swore  upon  the  Gospel 
never  again  to  teach  the  earth's  motion  and  the  sun's 
stability ;  he  declared  his  detestation  of  the  pro- 
scribed opinions,  and  promised  to  perform  the 
penance  laid  upon  him.  Then  rising,  all  the  shame 
of  his  cowardice  came  upon  him  and  all  the  pride 
of  his  manhood  returned,  as  he  exclaimed  in  defiance 
of  his  persecutors,  the  immortal  words  :  "  E  pur  si 
muovo !  "  ("  It  moves  in  spite  of  all  this  ").  Yet, 
strange  to  say,  he  was  permitted  to  depart  after  a 
short  confinement.  Continued  vexations,  how- 
ever,— the  death  of  a  favorite  daughter,  and  bodily 
infirmities,  he  becoming  entirely  deaf — brought  on 
him  fever  and  palpitation  of  the  heart,  and  he  died 
in  retirement  at  Arcetri,  January  8,  1642. 

Shortly  after,  and  in  the  northern  horizon  of  Great 
Britain,  another  great  master-mind  was  ushered  into 
this  world.  William  Harvey  was  born  at  Folke- 
stone, England,  April  1,  1578.  After  taking  his 
degree  of  M.  D.,  studying  for  this  purpose  at  Padua 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  451 

in  Italy,  he  settled  in  London  and  there  became  in 
1607  a  Fellow  of  the  Royal  College  of  Physicians. 
Soon  after  he  made  his  celebrated  discovery  of  the 
circulation  of  the  blood,  thereby  clearing  up  one  of 
the  profoundest  mysteries  of  nature,  more  conducive 
to  the  enlightenment  of  physical  knowledge  than 
anything  which  had  been  done  so  far  in  that  depart- 
ment of  medical  science.  Political  complications  of 
his  time  tended  greatly  to  embitter  his  illustrious 
life,  and  the  jealousy  of  his  benighted  colleagues 
added  to  his  disappointments  and  heavy  struggles. 
He  lived,  however,  to  be  considered  the  first  anato- 
mist and  physician  of  his  time,  and  to  see  his  dis- 
coveries universally  acknowledged.  He  died  in 
London,  June  3,  1657. 

Contemporary  with  him  and  of  the  same  land  and 
language,  came  one  of  the  most  phenomenal  and 
gigantic  minds  of  any  age  or  clime,  the  poet  and 
dramatist,  William  Shakespeare.  He  was  born  at 
Sfcratford-upon-Avon,  England,  April  23,  1564,  of 
comparatively  obscure  parents,  under  unpromising 
conditions,  receiving  but  a  scant  education,  and  living 
up  to  the  dawn  of  his  manhood  and  genius  a  life  little 
better  than  that  of  a  poacher  and  vagrant.  There- 
after, however,  like  a  cycle  of  brilliant  meteors  shot 
forth  from  his  brain  and  hands  a  wealth  of  literary 
treasures  which  blinded  and  bewildered  the  astounded 
contemporaneous  witnesses,  and  which  will  con- 
tinue to  amaze  the  cultured  world  till  Time  shall 
be  no  more.  Such  insight  of  human  character,  such 
knowledge  of  men's  passions;  such  incarnation  of 
right,  truth,  liberty  and  love;  such  incomparable 
tracery  of  wit,  humor  and  burlesque ;  such  elevated 
diction  and  eloquence;  such  cutting  satire;  all  this 
thrown  over  every  phase  of  the  living  and  the  dead ; 
over  childhood,  man's  estate,  and  old  age;  over  male 
and  female  ;  combining  history  and  fiction ;  marshal- 


452  BEN  BEOR. 

ing  in  quick  procession  mythology,  the  theological 
Christian  Church,  the  Jew  and  the  Gentile — cun- 
ningly disguising  in  his  hero  of  Shy  lock  the  detes- 
table common  prejudices  of  race,  and  in  his  Moor  of 
Venice  the  curse  of  caste;  the  best  of  Moses,  Christ, 
Confucius,  Plato,  Socrates ;  the  legislator,  philoso- 
pher, scientist  and  statesman,  culled  and  combined 
for  the  play  on  the  stage  that  mimics  the  world — all 
of  this  is  the  work  of  the  greatest  intellectual  hero 
and  educator,  of  the  unsurpassed  author  of  Britain 
or  any  other  land,  who  departed  this  world,  April 
23,  1616. 

And  as  if  the  measure  of  knowledge  were  to  be 
filled  to  overflowing,  there  arose  beside  a  host  of  other 
great  celebrities  in  the  three  united  kingdoms,  one 
more  especially  to  be  mentioned  among  the  giants  in 
the  realms  of  science,  the  renowned  Sir  Isaac  Newton. 
He  was  born  at  Woolsthorpe,  in  Lincolnshire,  Eng- 
land, December  25,  1642.  He  never  knew  his  father, 
and  was  but  indifferently  treated  by  his  mother,  who 
remarried  during  his  infancy.  Retired  and  shrinking 
as  a  child,  apparently  dull  and  backward  in  his 
studies,  yet  the  fire  of  his  genius,  like  that  of  his 
illustrious  compatriot  Shakespeare,  broke  forth  at 
the  verge  of  manhood,  and  he  soon  astonished  the 
world  with  the  celebrated  discovery  of  the  law  of 
gravitation,  following  up  this  his  most  eminent  of 
achievements  with  a  number  of  other  great  mathemat- 
ical discoveries  and  physical  inventions.  Crowned 
with  glory  and  with  years,  he  died  at  Kensington, 
near  London,  March  20,  1727. 

In  France,  too,  illustrious  additions  to  the  galaxy 
of  the  human  mind  arose  at  this  time.  Foremost 
among  these  was  Charles  de  Secondat  Montesquieu, 
born  at  the  Chateau  La  Brede,  near  Bordeaux,  Jan- 
uary 18,  1689.  Receiving  fine  educational  training 
in  his  youth,  gifted  with  even  abnormal  strength  of 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  453 

mind  for  reasoning  and  investigation,  he  early  dived 
into  the  depths  of  the  already  heaving  and  boiling 
elements  of  an  intellectual  awakening,  and  soon  pro- 
duced his  ever-memorable  work,  "  De  PEsprit  des 
Lois  "  (The  Spirit  of  the  Law),  a  master  conception 
of  the  political  and  social  fundamental  structure  for 
modern  conditions  of  state  and  church.  The  views 
and  principles  expressed  therein,  logical,  irresistible 
and  radical,  shook  all  intelligent  Europe  from  end  to 
end.  Twenty-two  editions  had  to  be  made  in  eigh- 
teen months,  and  it  was  translated  within  a  very 
short  time  into  every  language  of  the  continent.  The 
inferential  outcome  of  these  two  volumes  was  Revo- 
lution and  the  Republic.  He  was  only  to  see  the 
beginning  of  his  labors,  dying  at  Paris,  February 
10,  1755,  in  his  sixty-sixth  year  of  age. 

His  junior  compatriot  by  about  ten  years  was 
no  less  a  man  of  spirit,  capacity,  genius,  but  also 
full  of  caprice  and  whims — Frangois  Marie  Arouet  de 
Voltaire.  He  saw  the  light  of  this  mundane  sphere 
at  Paris,  November  21,  1694.  His  cynical  and 
doubting  disposition  soon  became  apparent.  Every- 
thing which  man  had  thus  far  considered  sacred  and 
venerable  was  to  him  mockery  and  sham.  Endowed 
with  a  giant  mind  for  destruction,  he  took  hold,  like 
Samson  of  old,  of  the  pillars  of  the  church  and  state 
and  tried  to  pull  them  down.  Yet,  while  he  suc- 
ceeded with  his  voluminous  writings  to  stir  them 
from  their  bases,  his  supercilious  vanity,  arrogance 
and  malice  proved  him  not  equal  to  the  task,  and  he 
died  in  his  native  city,  May  30,  1778,  the  most  over- 
rated and  comparatively  least  operative  factor  in 
the  progress  of  civilization. 

A  by  far  less  presumptuous  and  unpretending 
spirit,  with  the  modesty  of  a  child  and  the  strength 
of  a  Cyclops,  arose  in  neighboring  Holland,  in  the 
person  of  Baruch  Spinoza,  one  of  the  detested 


454  BEN  BEOR. 

Jews,  a  direct  offspring  of  the  fugitive  Marrannen, 
born,  as  is  surmised,  at  Amsterdam,  November  24, 
1632.  His  parents,  in  connection  with  numerous 
other  exiles  from  the  Pyrenean  peninsula,  had  found 
in  the  hospitable  lands  of  the  Dutch  a  refuge  place 
and  home,  where  Israelites  were  permitted  to  openly 
recant  their  forced  adherence  to  Christianity  and  pro- 
fess the  religion  of  their  fathers,  for  which  they  had 
suffered  and  endured  so  much.  When,  therefore,  in 
his  fifteenth  year,  barely  having  finished  his  talmud- 
ical  and  secular  education,  young  Baruch  evinced  a 
skeptical  tendency,  worrying  his  teachers,  Rabbi 
Morteira,  and  the  stern  Chief-Rabbi  Menasse  ben 
Israel  with  suspicious  questions  and  doubting  inter- 
rogations, they  looked  with  great  concern  upon  the 
precocious  youth  and  warned  him  to  desist  from  pur- 
suing such  trains  of  dangerous  investigation.  His 
Latin  tutor,  the  physician  Van  Ende,  however,  a 
renowned  linguist  and  himself  a  skeptic,  who  had 
taken  a  special  liking  to  the  bright  youth,  encour- 
aged him  in  the  pursuit  of  negative  philosophy  and 
opened  to  him  the  most  celebrated  writings  in  that 
direction.  The  young  student  was  accused  of  disre- 
garding the  laws  of  Moses,  condemning  the  Talmud, 
denying  the  immortality  of  the  soul,  and  ridiculing 
the  reality  of  supernatural  revelation  and  angelic 
communications. 

Publishing  a  number  of  heretical  works,  amongst 
which  the  "  Ethica  "  and  the  "  Tractatus  Theologico- 
Politicus r'  immediately  gave  him  the  reputation  of 
a  great  philosopher,  he  was  summoned  before  a 
rabbinical  tribunal,  but  anticipated  excommunication 
by  formally  withdrawing  himself  from  the  synagogue. 
Neglecting  the  repeated  citations  of  the  Sanhedrim, 
and  after  several  threatenings  and  the  offer  of  a  pen- 
sion if  he  would  desist  from  his  writings  and  teach- 
ings, which  undermined  the  barely  resuscitated  and 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  455 

reviving  Judaism,  at  length  in  1656  the  "  Cherem 
Godol,"  the  Anathema  Marantha,  was  officially  pro- 
mulgated against  him.  It  reads  thus :  "  The 
masters  of  the  Mahamad  (title  of  the  Hebrew 
synod  of  Holland,  consisting  of  the  rabbis  and  the 
officers  of  the  congregations,)  make  known  to  all  that 
some  time  ago  information  had  reached  us  of  the 
wicked  opinions  and  acts  of  Baruch  Spinoza  (de 
Espinoza),  and  we  in  different  ways  and  modes  had 
endeavored  to  withdraw  him  from  his  evil  roads. 
Since  we,  however,  could  not  succeed  in  this,  but  on 
the  contrary  received  every  day  more  proofs  of  his 
heresy,  which  he  exercised  and  taught,  and  everything 
being  proved  by  credible  witnesses,  he  therefore  has 
been  condemned  for  all  this.  Now  in  presence  of 
the  Masters,  '  Chachamin '  (sages),  it  is  unanimously 
decreed  that  said  Espinoza  be  banned  and  cut  off 
from  the  community  of  Israel,  as  by  these  presents, 
they  have  placed  him  in  the  following  i  Cherem ' : 
"  With  concurrence  of  the  angels  and  the  verdict 
of  the  saints,  we  ban,  sever  and  maledict  Baruch  de 
Espinoza,  in  accordance  with  the  blessed  Lord  and 
His  sacred  congregation,  before  the  holy  books  of  the 
Torah  and  the  six  hundred  and  thirteen  commands 
which  are  contained  therein,  with  the  excommuni- 
cation with  which  Joshua  has  banned  the  city  of 
Jericho ;  with  the  curse  by  which  Elisha  has  cursed 
the  youths ;  with  the  maledictions  which  are  recorded 
in  the  law.  Accursed  be  he  by  day  and  night; 
accursed  when  he  lies  down  and  when  he  rises,  in 
his  coming  and  his  going.  '  Adonoy '  may  not  pardon 
him !  His  wrath  and  vengeance  be  upon  this  man 
and  lay  upon  him  all  the  maledictions  which  are 
written  in  this  book  of  the  law.  '  Adonoy 7  extinguish 
his  name  from  under  the  heavens,  and  separate  the 
evil  from  the  community  of  Israel,  with  all  the 
curses  of  the  firmament,  which  are  writtten  in  the 


456  BEN  BEOR. 

book  of  the  law.  And  all  ye  who  cling  to  '  Adonoy,' 
may  ye  all  live. 

"  We  warn  you  that  nobody,  orally  or  in  writing, 
shall  hold  intercourse  with  him ;  nor  do  him  favor ; 
nor  live  with  him  under  the  same  roof  or  within 
four  ells  of  his  person ;  nor  read  aught  of  writings 
which  he  has  made  or  written. 

"  Aera  mundi  1656.     Month  of  6th  of  Av." 

But  the  time  had  gone  by  when  such  flashes  of 
cold  lightning  had  any  special  terrors.  The  excom- 
municated philosopher,  banished  by  request  of  his 
foes  from  Amsterdam,  had  learned  the  art  of  polish- 
ing lenses  for  the  astronomers,  and  following  this 
precarious  mode  of  earning  a  living,  after  traveling 
hither  and  thither,  found  a  home  at  last  among 
friends  and  admirers  at  the  Hague.  Declining 
several  offers  of  kindness  for  office  or  pension,  he 
endured  the  toils  and  sufferings  of  poverty,  protract- 
ing his  labors  until  deep  into  the  night.  For  months 
he  would  not  leave  the  room,  following  his  manual 
labor  of  polishing  glass  to  gain  a  scant  support,  but 
reveling  in  the  luxury  of  creating  a  religio-ethical 
system  which  even  during  his  lifetime  was  titled  by 
his  name.  He  died  here,  February  21,  1677,  in  the 
prime  of  his  manhood,  buried  in  an  unknown  grave, 
wept  over  by  a  few  friends  only,  and  under  the  male- 
diction of  men  whose  memory  will  be  forgotten  and 
lost  when  the  name  of  their  victim  shall  live  till  the 
trumpet  ot  resurrection  brings  the  dead  to  life  again. 

Now,  amidst  this  ebullition  and  the  fermenting 
process  of  the  master  spirits  of  these  times,  a  coun- 
terpoise must  be  found  by  the  Anti-Messiah,  neutral- 
izing in  some  shape  and  to  some  extent  the  prodi- 
gious influences  their  efforts  would  exercise  among 
the  masses.  More  and  more  I,  Ben  Beor,  was  losing 
my  foot-hold  in  the  mission  of  Wrong  against 
Right,  Serfdom  against  Liberty,  and  Ignorance 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  457 

against  Enlightenment;  so  I  determined  to  make 
another  grand  concentrated  effort  to  achieve  my  pur- 
pose and  demolish  the  victories  gained  so  signally  by 
my  adversaries.  If  it  succeeded  I  might  well  defy 
science,  art,  philosophy  and  literature,  and  laugh  at 
the  Reformers  and  the  Reformation. 

I  had  hied  to  Constantinople  to  see  if  my  labors 
could  not  be  brought  to  bear  by  some  intrigue 
to  ruin  the  growing  Perez  Mendes  colony.  Here, 
amidst  my  undermining  schemes,  I  learned  from  a 
half-crazed  Jewish  traveller,  who  called  himself  the 
preacher  Abraham  Jachina,  a  curious  story  that 
commended  itself  as  a  starting  point  for  my  future 
plans. 

Section  III. — Sabbathai  Zevi. 

There  lived  in  the  inconsiderable  city  of  Smyrna 
in  the  Levant  a  Jewish  dealer  in  small  wares  and 
poultry.  His  name  was  Mordechai  Zevi.  His  stall 
and  residence  formed  one  of  the  quaint  hovels  in 
the  street  where  most  of  his  race  dwelt.  Late  in 
life  had  been  born  to  him  a  third  son.  The  mother 
unfortunately  died  on  the  child  seeing  this  world's 
light.  It  being  Friday,  after  the  day  of  rest  having 
been  ushered  in,  the  father  named  the  little  newcomer 
Sabbathai.  The  infant  grew  up  under  the  care  of 
his  nurse  to  unusual  sturdy  physical  proportion  and 
precocious  mental  development,  being  able  to  walk 
when  six  months  old  and  speaking  fluently  after  one 
year.  All  the  old  cronies  and  wiseacres  prophesied 
great  things  for  the  babe's  future.  At  five  years  he 
had  mastered  the  Hebrew  language  sufficiently  to 
commence  the  study  of  the  Talmud.  His  principal 
teacher  was  the  then  celebrated  Rabbi  Joseph  Iskaja. 
At  ten  years  the  boy  received  the  honorable  title  of 
"  Chaver  "  (Bachelor),  and  was  soon  after  introduced 


458  BEN  BEOE. 

into  the  mysterious  and  mystic  lore  of  the  Kabbala. 
According  to  the  custom  of  the  country  he  was  mar- 
ried to  a  beautiful  girl  when  yet  a  lad,  but  he  showed 
so  little  domestic  inclination  and  neglected  his  child- 
wife  so  constantly  that  she  soon  applied  for  a  divorce 
and  was  readily  granted  such  by  the  authorities  of 
the  synagogue.  At  twenty  he  was  the  finest  and 
most  remarkable  looking  man  in  the  neighborhood. 
Like  Saul  of  old  he  towered  head  and  shoulders  over 
the  people,  his  long  black  hair  falling  in  natural 
ringlets  over  his  back  and  breast.  An  immense  fore- 
head, dark  piercing  eyes  and  well-proportioned, 
finely  chiseled  features,  with  a  full  beard,  gave  him  a 
distinguished  appearance. 

A  war  between  Turkey  And  Venice  had  made  com- 
merce in  the  Eastern  metropolis  insecure,  and  several 
European  houses,  especially  Dutch  and  English, 
opened  their  mercantile  bureaus  at  Smyrna.  Morde- 
chai  Zevi  became  commercial  agent  for  one  of  these, 
and  by  promptness,  industry  and  scrupulous  honesty 
soon  prospered  for  himself  and  his  employers.  Now 
the  wealth  of  the  doting  father  could  supply  all  the 
whimsical  and  extravagant  notions  of  his  already 
famous  son,  who,  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  had  been 
honored  by  the  "  Beth  Din "  with  the  title  of  a 
"  Chacham  "  (Doctor  of  Divinity).  He  became  an 
ascetic,  fasting,  praying  and  seeking  solitude.  They 
had  married  him  for  the  second  time,  but  his  young 
and  comely  spouse  fared  no  better  than  the  first,  and 
sought  and  obtained  a  divorce  also.  His  renown 
for  sain tlin ess  and  oracular  lore  spread  far  and  wide, 
and  was  helped  to  extend  by  the  father  declaring 
often  and  loud  that  the  great  success  in  his  financial 
operations  was  due  as  a  blessing  from  heaven  for  the 
piety  and  devotion  of  the  God-chosen  son.  The 
English  merchants  who  came  here  to  trade  were 
all  pietistic  dissenters,  and  brought  with  them  the 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  459 

widespread  belief  of  the  coming  of  the  millennium, 
which,  according  to  their  leader's  calculation  from 
the  Apocalypse,  was  certainly  to  occur  in  the  year 
1666,  to  be  especially  distinguished  by  the  Jews 
returning  in  great  glory  to  the  Holy  Land,  there  to 
rebuild  the  temple  and  become  the  mightiest  nation 
of  the  world.  Such  fanatic  reports  reached  Sab- 
bathai  Zevi,  and  finding  in  the  mysticism  of  the 
Book  of  Light  (Sohar),  the  greatest  of  all  cabalistic 
writings,  proof  of  this  delusion,  in  one  of  his  hallu- 
cinated trances,  which  now  occurred  to  the  dreaming 
enthusiast,  he  fancied  himself  selected  as  the  "  Mes- 
siah ben  David."  With  an  assurance  bordering  on 
madness  he  proclaimed  suddenly  this  mission  of 
Israel's  early  redemption  to  his  ever-growing  train 
of  followers.  The  commotion  became  so  great  that 
the  college  of  rabbins,  with  the  old  teacher  Joseph 
Eskafa,  pronounced  the  excommunication  over  the 
now  twenty-two  year  old  pretender  and  his  friends  and 
banished  the  whole  crowd  from  the  city.  Nothing 
had  been  heard  since  from  Sabbathai  Zevi.  It  was 
reported  that  he  sought  refuge  in  a  cave  in  Southern 
Arabia,  and  it  is  more  than  likely  that  he  there  was 
slain  by  some  of  the  wandering  tribes.  But  among 
the  people  far  and  wide,  Jewish,  Christian  and 
Heathen,  it  was  believed  that  he  only  abided  his  time, 
and  at  its  fullness  he  certaiuly  would  re-appear  to 
fulfill  his  peerless  celestial  mission. 

"  So  far  goes  my  story,"  said  the  preacher ;  "  but 
I  find,"  he  added,  "so  much  and  such  remarkable 
resemblance  in  your  stature  and  mien  to  the  vanished 
Smyrna  Messiah  that  I  actually  took  you  at  first 
to  be  him.  Two  drops  of  water  could  not  be  more 
similar  to  one  another  than  is  your  appearance 
to  his."  Meanwhile  the  excitement  caused  by  the 
expectation  of  the  early  re-appearance  of  the  second 
coming  of  Christ  and  his  anointed  prophet  had 


460  BEN  BEOR. 

assumed  abnormal  proportions.  "Verily,  were  I 
in  your  place,  nothing  should  prevent  me  from 
assuming  the  glorious  role.  I  have  found  lately  this 
apocryphal  scroll  in  the  ruins  of  the  holy  temple  " — 
and  here  he  drew  from  his  kaftan  a  yellowed  vellum 
manuscript,  which  he  read.  It  contained  the  follow- 
ing prophecy  :  "  I,  the  son  of  the  patriarch  Abraham, 
immured  for  forty  years  in  a  cave,  was  in  vain  wait- 
ing for  the  promised  time  of  the  miracles.  Then 
came  to  me  a  voice  from  heaven  (Bath  Kol)  herald- 
ing the  period  near  at  hand  and  saying,  'A.  son  will 
be  born  in  this  world  in  the  year  1626  (5386  A.  M.) 
in  the  hour  of  the  coming  Sabbath,  wherefore  his 
name  shall  be  called  Sabbathai.  He  will  demolish 
the  great  Dragon,  for  he  is  the  true  Messiah  who 
shall  conquer  the  world  without  warfare/  " 

Nothing  could  have  suited  my  scheme  better  to 
overthrow  the  march  of  intelligence  now  rushing 
over  the  continents,  than  the  counter-play  of  rousing 
to  fever  frenzy  the  teeming  and  easily  excited 
masses  of  the  East  and  West.  The  misery  of  the 
common  herd  of  humanity,  always  verging  on  the 
point  of  starvation ;  the  disgust  prevailing  among 
the  Gentiles,  with  their  impotent  idols  and  their  ra- 
pacious priesthood,  ready  to  rush  over  to  anything 
that  offered  something  more  plausible  and  promising; 
the  angry  excitement  between  the  old  and  new  church 
in  Christendom,  which  yet  was  prevailing  upon  every 
inch  of  soil  in  Europe,  and,  no  matter  its  outcome 
and  result,  plunged  the  people  deeper  and  deeper  into 
the  mire  of  pauperism  from  which  no  religious 
movement  would  extricate  them  and  give  them  bread 
and  rights;  the  unparalleled  and  yet  not  ended 
sufferings,  oppressions  and  persecutions  of  the  He- 
brews, who  kept  the  easily  inflamed  last  hope  of 
their  dispersion  wide-awake,  the  ever-cherished 
longing  to  return  to  the  land  of  their  forefathers, 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGOEIA.  461 

there  to  rebuild  the  holy  temple  and  become  once 
more  a   nation  of  the  world — all  these  conditions 
combined,  united  the  Idolaters,  the  Christians  and 
Jews  in  being  ripe  for  rising  under  the  leadership  of 
the  right  man,  into  one  great  upheaval,  to  rush  over 
the  earth  with  a  cataclysm  of  fury  which  would  engulf 
the   entire  established   order  of  society,  state,  and 
religion.     So,  in  connection  with  my  new  confeder- 
ate, a  most  wily  plotter,  I  started  the  great  drama 
that  should  at  no  distant  day  accomplish  my  all- 
overwhelming  purpose.     Salonichi,  a  not  far  distant 
city,  full  of  dervishes,  kabbalists  and  monks,  was 
chosen  as  the  first  scene  for  the  prelude  of  our  per- 
formance.    Jachini   went  thither   and  heralded  the 
early  resurrection  and  re-appearance  of  the  long  dead 
Messianic  Sabbathai  Zevi,  and  that  he  would  enter 
in  great  splendor  and  glory  as  his  first  resting  place 
at  this   renowned   city.     "Prepare!"  the  preacher 
cried,  "  for  the  coming  of  the  Messiah,  when  the  long- 
expected  Star  of  Bethlehem  shall  reappear   in  the 
heavens.     [This  event  had  been  calculated  by  the 
modern  astronomers  to  occur  in  the  now  beginning 
year  1666.]     Assemble  on  the  night  of  the  Lord's 
nativity  and  ye  shall  behold  the  sign  of  the  coming 
of  the  Eternal!"     In  consequence  of  his  prophecy 
the  whole  city  turns  out  at  dark  of  Christmas  night, 
Jachini  standing  in  their  midst  upon  a  raised  dais. 
Every  eye  is  directed  to  the  sky.     Suddenly  at  mid- 
night the  expected  celestial  guest  breaks  forth  upon 
the  vision  of  the  excited  multitude.    A  scarlet,  flam- 
ing stellar  body  of  the  first  magnitude  lights  up  the 
fleecy  clouds,  surrounding  in  silvery  sheen  the  full 
orbit  of  the  moon,  and  at  sight  the  masses  send  forth 
in  one  great  shout  of  exultation  :   "Hosannah!  Ho- 
sannah ! " 

Presently  the  fanfares   of  cornet   and   trumpet- 
blasts  are  heard  from  afar,  and  against  the  star-lit 


462  BEN  BEOR. 

sky  arise  the  black  outlines  of  a  great  multitude, 
approaching  in  procession  with  a  sea  of  torches  to 
the  now  wild  city.  The  cry  of  "  The  Messiah  hath 
come ! "  rends  the  air,  and  the  now  frenzied  crowd 
rushed  forth  to  meet  the  triumphal  entry  of  the 
coming  Redeemer.  At  the  city  gate  the  leader  of 
the  procession  halts,  and  by  his  order  the  scroll  of 
the  law,  the  Torah,  is  brought  from  the  holy  ark  of 
the  ancient  synagogue,  the  crucifix  and  chalice  from 
the  cathedral,  and  the  golden  horn  from  the  mosque. 
When  all  is  ready,  rabbis,  priests,  mueddzins, 
dervishes  and  idol-prophets  for  the  first  time  in 
religious  experience  unite  to  perform  by  their  pres- 
ence and  assistance  the  Wedding  of  the  Law  to  the 
anointed  Messiah  of  the  Lord.  For  days  and 
days  fasting  and  feasting,  prayers  and  jollifications 
interchanged,  and  the  report  that  the  blessed  Ben 
David  had  arrived  at  last  spreads  like  wildfire  to 
every  point  of  the  compass.  "On  to  Jerusalem!" 
soon  became  the  cry,  and  the  mob  moved  towards 
the  Holy  Land,  increasing  as  it  proceeded  onward. 
Means  for  subsistence  were  furnished  almost  exclu- 
sively by  one  infatuated  millionaire,  the  Saraf 
Bashi  (mint-master  and  wool  contractor)  of  Cairo,  a 
man  with  a  wonderfully  benevolent  heart  but  a 
muddled  brain  that  had  been  distorted  and  inflamed 
by  the  incessant  study  of  the  Kabbalah.  This  man, 
whose  name  was  Raphael  Joseph  Chelebi,  as  soon  as 
he  learned  of  the  doings  in  Salonichi,  proceeded 
there  at  once  with  a  caravan  of  camels  loaded  with 
untold  treasures,  and  placed  himself  forthwith  at 
the  head  of  the  march  to  the  Holy  City.  The  people, 
too,  through  whose  lands  the  pilgrims  pass  have 
been  informed  in  advance  of  the  glad  tidings  by 
gaudily  attired  heralds,  mounted  on  splendidly  capari- 
soned chargers.  They  bring  provisions  and  provide 
comforts,  many  of  the  inhabitants  swelling  the  great 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  463 

crowd  moving  eastward.  At  last  the  tumultuous 
hordes  arrive  in  Jerusalem.  Here,  too,  everything 
is  prepared  for  their  reception.  Ignorance,  poverty 
and  religious  frenzy  ruled  supreme  at  that  period  in 
the  city  of  the  Lord.  Years  of  the  most  cruel 
oppression  had  made  the  denizens  of  that  once 
favored  seat  of  the  Shechinah  now  a  sink  of  super- 
stition. Unlike  the  Crusaders  who  came  as  invaders 
and  foes,  the  Messianic  crowds  were  received  with 
open  arms  as  friends  and  deliverers.  Sabbathai 
moved  forth  like  a  mighty  potentate  and  prince,  sur- 
rounded by  a  court  of  servile  and  devoted  attend- 
ants. A  fine  palace  was  selected  for  his  residence ; 
obsequious  honors  were  paid  him  every  time  when 
he  showed  himself  in  public.  This  occurred  very 
seldom,  as  he  wisely  preferred  the  mystery  of  retire- 
ment. Even  the  foreign  consuls  and  embassadors, 
partly  from  curiosity,  partly  from  some  selfish 
motives,  called  to  do  him  honor  and  then  sent  their 
exaggerated  reports  to  their  home  governments. 
Only  the  Vizier  of  the  Sultan,  who  was  the  ruler  of 
the  state,  kept  aloof  and  keenly  watched  the  course 
of  events.  A  new  phase  now  occurred,  which  gave 
the  already  stirring  affair  new  eclat  and  sham  lustre. 

Section  IV. — The  Affianced  of  the  Messiah. 

During  one  of  the  periodical  outbreaks  against 
the  Hebrews,  wherein  generally  numbers  were  slain 
and  the  congregations  dispersed,  it  happened  in  a 
Polish  city  under  rule  of  the  inhuman  general 
Chonienicke  that  a  little  girl-waif,  orphaned  by  the 
massacre,  was  found  by  the  Christians.  They  placed 
her  with  the  nuns  of  a  Carmelite  cloister.  She  was 
about  six  years  old  then,  and  of  her  whole  family 
none  was  left  but  an  elder  brother,  who  found 
refuge  in  Amsterdam,  whence  the  boy  had  fled  with 


464  BEN  BEOR. 

many  others  of  these  persecuted  people.  The  found- 
ling, bright  and  exceedingly  handsome,  was  adopted 
by  the  sisters  to  be  raised  and  educated  in  the 
Catholic  faith.  Her  quaint,  arch  and  affectionate 
ways  made  her  the  favorite  of  her  foster-mothers, 
and  in  fact  she  ruled  with  her  irresistible,  cunning 
ways  the  whole  pious  household.  She  retained 
vividly  the  early  impressions  of 'her  parental  home, 
and  nothing  that  the  nuns  could  do  made  her  forget 
these.  So,  often  when  reciting  the  "Ave"  and 
"  Paternoster,"  which  they  taught  her  to  repeat 
morning,  noon  and  eve,  in  the  midst  of  her  Latin 
words  she  would  cry  out  her  "  Sh'mah  Israel,"  and 
the  little  cheat  never  enjoyed  a  night's  rest  before 
she  had  said  her  accustomed  Hebrew  prayers. 
There  was  nothing  left  undone  by  her  kind  benefac- 
tors to  give  her  a  fair  and  thorough  education,  and 
she  amazed  her  teachers  by  quick  comprehension, 
great  memory  and  insatiable  thirst  for  learning. 
To  this  was  added  an  eccentric  and  fantastical 
disposition  that  filled  her  with  dreams  and  illusions. 
She  grew  into  a  rapturous,  beautiful  maiden,  the 
very  type  of  oriental  comeliness.  A  tall  and  com- 
manding stature,  cream-colored  complexion,  with 
deep  carmine  waxen  cheeks ;  rosy  lips,  large  dark 
eyes  with  long  fringed  lashes  and  straight,  full  eye- 
brows; a  high  forehead  encircled  with  short  wavy 
curls  which  studded  her  well-rounded  head  like 
clusters  of  blue-black  grapes ;  finely  developed  bust 
and  form — such  she  appeared  now,  when  sixteen, 
preparing  to  take  the  veil,  which  was  to  occur 
shortly.  But  it  had  not  been  willed  so.  One  night 
she  disappeared  from  the  cloister.  In  the  morning 
she  was  found  by  some  of  her  co-religionists,  a  few 
of  whom  had  returned  to  their  former  home,  in  the  old 
Hebrew  burial-place.  She  was  dressed  in  her  night 
gown  only  and  lay  prostrate  on  the  grave  of  her 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  465 

parents.     She  declared  to  the  astonished  people  that 
in  last  night's  sleep  the  spirit  of  her  father  had 
appeared  to  her  and  had  carried  her  to  this  spot. 
Women  were  called  and  she  showed  them  the  bloody 
traces  of  finger-nails  on  her  waist  and  arms.     More 
remarkable  still,  she  asserted  that  the  spirit  had 
proclaimed  to  her  before  he  vanished,  at  dawn  of 
light,  these  words  :   "  Sarah,  my  daughter,  thou  art 
to   be  the  spouse  of  the  Messiah ! "     There  was 
extreme  danger  to  the  Jews  who  thus  had  found  her, 
to  shelter  a  runaway  from  the  convent,  and  yet  they 
had  it  not  in  their  hearts  to  deliver  one  of  their  own 
back  into  the  hands  of  those  who  insisted  upon  her 
conversion  and  immurement.     So  they  secretly  and 
in  disguise  sent  her  to  Amsterdam,  delivering  the 
girl  to  her  glad  brother.    Here  she  lived  in  ease  and 
comfort  for  one  year,  admired  by  all  who  saw  her, 
but  repulsing  the  many  wooers  for  her  hand,  con- 
tinually asserting  that  she  could  only  become  the 
wife  of  the  u  Ben  David,"  and  that  in  due  time  his 
messenger  would  come  to  lead  her  to  the  fulfilment 
of  her  heaven-prophesied  destiny.     Strange  to  say, 
just  at  the  expiration  of  the  year  since  her  arrival  at 
the  Dutch  capital,  an  ambassador  from  Sabbathai 
Zevi  arrived,  demanding  for  his  lord  and  master  the 
hand  of  the  girl  in  marriage.     He  related  that  the 
Messiah  had  been  informed  in  a  nightly  vision  of 
the  whereabouts  of  his  future  spouse,  and  had  been 
commanded  to  have  her  conducted  to  Jerusalem  for 
the  marriage.     The  excitement  caused  by  this  event 
was  immense  among  all  classes  of  people. 

She  departed  in  company  with  her  brother  and 
without  delay.  Her  journey  resembled  a  triumphal 
tour.  Everywhere  she  was  received  with  princely 
honors.  The  inhabitants  where  she  passed  flocked 
in  crowds  to  see  the  chosen  bride  of  the  Messiah. 
Thus  she  reached  at  last  the  gates  of  the  Holy  City. 


466  BEN  BEOR. 

Here  she  was  met  by  a  procession  of  the  magnates 
and  grandees  of  the  place,  inclusive  of  an  outpouring 
of  the  citizens,  a  medley  from  all  lands  and  quarters 
of  the  globe.  Bands  of  musicians  preceded  them; 
a  throne-chair  had  been  provided,  in  which  she  was 
lifted  and  carried  to  the  palace  and  the  waiting 
groom,  like  a  veritable  queen.  An  arch  of  lotus 
and  palms  had  been  erected  at  the  portal.  Here  sat 
Zevi  surrounded  by  his  bodyguard,  awaiting  the 
coming  of  his  affianced.  As  she  approached  the 
stairs  he  rose  and  cried  out,  like  one  dazed,  "  Merris, 
my  veritable  Merris !  "  Impressing  a  kiss  upon  her 
forehead,  he  led  her  to  the  throne.  A  more  imposing 
couple  was  never  seen.  The  "  Chacham  Pashi "  re- 
ceived them.  That  official  was  dressed  in  the  full 
garb  of  the  former  high-priest — the  mitre  on  his  head, 
the  golden  breastplate  suspended  from  his  neck. 
Proclamation  was  made  by  him  that  the  now-to-be- 
celebrated  union  was  a  spiritual  consecration  of  the 
lives  of  the  august  pair,  that  the  fulfilment  of  man- 
kind's redemption  must  be  achieved  by  a  complete 
man  in  the  welded  nature  of  a  perfect  male  and 
female,  as  prophesied  by  Holy  Writ.  Joining  their 
hands  together,  placing  iron  rings  in  each  of  which 
was  set  a  priceless  solitaire  diamond  on  the  forefinger 
of  both,  and  bestowing  the  Aaronic  blessing  with  his 
outstretched  arms  over  their  heads,  he  pronounced 
them  "  husband  and  wife ! "  They  now  retired  amidst 
the  hosannahs  and  hallelujahs  of  the  jubilant  masses, 
and  for  three  days  the  city  was  given  over  to  feasting, 
dancing  and  carousing.  No  greater  miracle  could 
have  been  wrought  in  the  eyes  of  the  people  than 
this  wonderful  coming  of  the  bride  and  the  union  of 
two  imperial  souls,  fitted  as  if  by  decree  of  Provi- 
dence for  the  unprecedented  delusion  of  the  age  and 
the  continents. 

The  influence  which  now  commenced  to  reveal 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  467 

itself  in  the  new  life  of  this  auspiciously  connected 
pair  became  visible  within  a  very  short  time.  The 
man — grave,  decorous,  stern  and  commanding — 
upheld  firmly  his  celestial  claim.  The  woman — 
sprightly,  engaging  and  unusually  attractive — drew 
to  him  by  her  beauty  and  interesting  ways  hosts  of 
admirers  and  devoted  followers.  She  conquered  as 
much  with  her  smiles  as  he  with  his  dignity  and 
pretensions.  They  lived  in  separate  apartments, 
each  one  occupying  a  wing  of  the  palace,-  and  never 
met  except  at  the  hour  for  public  audiences.  A  con- 
fidential intercommunion  was  kept  up  between  them 
by  a  third  personage,  a  most  trusted  and  important 
servant,  Zevi's  private  secretary,  the  profoundly 
learned  and  piously  devoted  Samuel  Primo.  Never 
had  mundane  cause  more  faithful  and  apt  manager 
— one  who  understood  how  to  make  the  liveliest 
propaganda  for  the  agitation,  surrounding  it  with  a 
sheen  of  dignity  and  glory  and  watching  over  his 
master  and  mistress  like  a  guardian  angel;  provid- 
ing for  every  contingency  and  prepared  for  all  re- 
quirements. Imbued  with  an  absolute  belief  in  the 
genuine  mission  of  Sabbathai  and  his  spouse,  he 
prized  himself  too  happy  to  be  permitted  living  in 
constant  companionship  with  the  chosen  of  heaven, 
and  his  unbounded  enthusiasm  inspired  all  who 
came  in  contact  with  them  with  an  equal  fervor, 
forming  as  it  were  a  magic  circle  which  widened  and 
extended  by  every  day's  experience. 

Fearing  hostile  interference  from  the  Governor  of 
Jerusalem,  Emin  Pasha,  and  believing  it  greatly 
advantageous  to  remove  with  his  august  patrons  to 
new  fields  of  glory,  he  planned  and  carried  out  in  a 
most  regal  way  a  journey  to  Smyrna,  the  birthplace 
of  the  Messiah.  A  solid  train  of  chariots,  a  long  cav- 
alcade of  splendidly  mounted  men,  and  an  endless 
caravan  of  camels,  led  by  bands  of  music,  inter- 


468  BEN  BEOB. 

spersed  with  fifes  and  drums,  moved  in  gallant  array 
westward.  Amidst  this  brilliant  procession  rode 
the  hero  of  the  day  and  his  spouse  in  palanquins 
draped  with  purple  and  gold,  carried  by  docile,  easy- 
moving  elephants.  They  were  surrounded  by  a  gor- 
geously dressed  bodyguard  of  two  hundred  men. 
Heralds,  furnished  with  silver  trumpets,  preceded 
the  procession  and  announced  its  coming  for  miles 
ahead.  Such  splendor  had  not  been  witnessed  in 
the  East  since  King  Darius  the  Great  moved  from 
Macedonia.  Everywhere  the  populace  turned  out, 
singing  and  praying,  eager  multitudes  to  behold  the 
coming  of  the  Lord.  As  the  gold-tipped  minaret 
spires  of  Smyrna  came  in  sight,  a  spectacle  met  the 
comers  which  perhaps  has  no  parallel  in  reality 
or  fiction.  Virtually  the  whole  city  had  turned  out 
to  meet  them.  Men,  women  and  children,  the  rich 
and  the  poor,  the  young  and  the  old,  had  come  in 
holiday  parade.  The  municipal  authorities  carried 
between  them  the  ancient  father  and  the  two  older 
brothers  of  Zevi.  The  ministers  of  the  several 
religions,  dominant  in  these  regions,  followed  next. 
As  the  two  hosts  met,  the  hosannahs  and  acclama- 
tions of  frenzied  joy  rent  the  air.  A  grand  jubilee 
memorial  service  was  held  here  in  the  open  field,  and 
the  ecstasy  of  the  multitude  was  raised  to  the  high- 
est pitch.  Towards  evening  the  masses  moved 
forward,  to  arrive  in  the  brilliantly  illuminated  city 
at  nightfall.  Here  the  house  of  the  Redeemer's 
nativity  had  been  transformed  into  a  magnificent 
palace,  and  the  whole  quarter  changed  to  a  metro- 
politan avenue  which  resembled  more  a  palm  grove 
and  a  flower  garden  than  a  street.  It  was  wonderful 
what  the  hand  of  man  had  accomplished  with  skill 
and  a  profusion  of  wealth.  That  night  there  lived  no 
prouder  man  in  all  the  world  than  was  Samuel  Primo. 
Nor  was  there  a  more  pitiful,  abjectly  miserable 


HISTORICAL,  PHANTASMAGORIA.  469 

wretch  than  the  lion  of  the  hour,  the  Messiah.  He 
had  fallen  violently  in  love  with  his  wife.  That 
woman  in  her  grave  beauty  and  splendor,  from 
the  moment  of  her  arrival  had,  with  the  keen  sense 
of  her  extraordinary  perception,  looked  through  the 
pretender,  recognized  the  sham  and  hollowness  of 
the  performances,  and  loathed  and  detested  the  man. 
In  public  and  to  all  appearances  she  showed  him 
divinest  deference  and  profound  respect,  but  on  sev- 
eral trials  of  amative  approach  her  repulse  was  full 
of  venom  and  tiger-like  hatred.  Worst  of  all,  the 
tender  passion  of  her  heart,  like  a  shadow-begotten 
plant,  will  turn  to  daylight,  so  she  was  bent  towards 
the  faithful,  humble  Primo,  a  passion  realized  by  no 
one  but  herself  and  her  madly  jealous  husband.  It 
was  the  realization  of  my  old  curse.  This  domestic 
calamity  did  not,  however,  interfere  with  the  pompous 
progress  of  events. 

After  a  few  days  of  rest,  recuperation  and  organi- 
zation, the  active  work  for  the  campaign  of  the  com- 
ing reign  of  the  "  Ben  David  "  commenced.  The 
machinery  of  a  high  and  imposing  court  was  set  into 
motion.  Messengers  with  royal  authority  were  sent 
to  all  parts  of  the  civilized  globe,  announcing  the 
arrival  of  the  millennium ;  these  were  especially  com- 
missioned to  the  largest  Jewish  congregations  in 
Europe.  As  if  a  mania  had  overpowered  all  reason, 
they  were  received  with  all  tokens  of  credence,  and 
the  people  everywhere  went  wild  over  the  auspicious 
news.  Men  of  the  highest  standing,  of  culture, 
learning  and  sagacity,  were  duped  into  the  hallucina- 
tion. Church  and  synagogue  united  to  spread  its 
extent.  Trade  and  commerce  came  to  a  standstill. 
There  was  no  longer  credit ;  there  were  no  debtors. 
The  governments  fell  into  the  snare,  and  many  high 
officials  became  as  crazily  enthusiastic  over  the  por- 
tentous affair  as  the  ignorant  and  easily  gulled 


470  BEN  BEOE. 

people.  The  fact  was  that  already  highly  colored 
and  exaggerated  reports  had  reached  Europe  by  the 
ambassadors,  consuls  and  commercial  agents,  which 
tended  towards  the  general  ensuing  commotion. 
Everybody  made  ready  for  "  The  Day  of  Doom  " 
and  the  early  re-establishment  of  the  Kingdom  of 
God  in  Palestine.  Foremost  among  the  Hebrews 
were  the  -communities  of  Amsterdam  and  Hamburg, 
who  went  frantic  over  the  news.  Jubilees  with 
noisy  music,  dancing  and  frolicing  in  the  houses  of 
prayer,  castigations  and  fastings  for  the  repentance 
of  sins,  were  the  uninterrupted  order  of  the  day. 
The  printing  presses  worked  day  and  night  to  pub- 
lish the  new  messianic  rituals,  in  which  Sabbathai 
as  "King  David"  graced  the  frontispage.  The 
public  gyrating  and  performances  of  sedate,  earnest 
and  respectable  people  everywhere  would  under  ordi- 
nary circumstances  have  made  it  appear  as  if  the 
human  mind  had  been  dethroned  and  all  had  become 
maniacs.  Under  the  new  regime  the  old  order  of 
things  was  entirely  reversed.  The  Talmudical  and 
Mosaic  laws  were  declared  no  longer  in  force.  The 
strangest  vagaries,  the  crazy  teachings  of  the  Kabba- 
lah, took  their  place.  Never  before  had  the  Anti- 
Messiah's  efforts  to  destroy  the  Torah  come  so  near 
its  realization  as  just  now,  and  this  by  the  hands 
of  its  own  guardians  and  protectors.  What  the 
Wandering  Gentile  could  not  achieve  with  fire, 
sword,  tears,  suffering,  persecution  and  death,  seemed 
now  to  come  about  by  wile,  delusion  and  super- 
stition from  within  the  very  ranks  of  the  faithful. 
At  the  seat  of  his  residence  in  Smyrna  things  went 
on  with  equal  success  and  ever -increasing  fervor. 
From  far  and  near  came  ambassadors  without  num- 
ber and  of  all  creeds  to  hail  the  newly-arisen  star. 
Soon  the  "  King  of  the  Jews,"  as  now  ran  his  title, 
received  recognition  and  acknowledgment  of  fealty 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  471 

from  crowned  heads  and  potentates .  Pilgrims  whose 
hands  were  filled  with  treasures  came  from  every 
quarter  of  the  globe  to  worship  the  holy  sovereign. 
It  was  reported  that  the  representative  of  St.  Peter  in 
Rome  had  sent  a  special  nuncio  to  declare  the  Holy 
Father's  submission  to  his  Eastern  celestial  peer. 

On  the  first  morning  of  the  new  year  1666  A.  D., 
the  auspicious  date  that  should  fulfill  the  beginning 
of  the  glad  tidings,  another  remarkable  scene  was 
enacted  publicly  from  the  portals  of  the  renowned 
palace.  Upon  a  raised  platform  sat  on  their  golden 
thrones  the  king  and  queen  of  the  new  heavenly- 
appointed  realm.  Before  them  were  gathered  the 
representatives  of  the  nations,  and  the  neighborhood 
was  black  with  the  various  races  of  men.  This  day 
the  subdivision  of  the  spiritual  rulers  of  the  globe 
should  be  proclaimed  to  the  world.  Amidst  the 
blare  of  the  trumpets  and  the  fanfares  of  the  cor- 
nets sounding  over  the  tumultuous  uproar,  went 
forth  the  august  edicts.  Besides  his  own  supreme 
power  over  all  the  earth  and  his  special  claim  over 
the  Dragon  of  Turkey,  who  was  to  be  subdued  with 
song  and  music  without  the  lifting  of  a  sword, 
twenty-six  faithful  servants  were  appointed  as  his 
chief  vice-regents  over  all  the  rest  of  mankind.  The 
lion's  share  was  given  to  his  brothers  Elias  and  Joseph. 
The  first  in  his  biblical  namesake  character  was  titled 
"the  king  of  kings";  the  next  in  same  capacity  as 
"King  of  Israel."  Then  came  his  faithful  yet 
secretly  hated  secretary,  Samuel  Primo;  friend 
Jachini,  Raphael  Joseph  Chelibi  of  Cairo  were  not 
forgotten.  Even  a  common  Jew  tramp  and  beggar, 
the  lowliest  man  of  Smyrna,  Abraham  Rubino,  was 
endowed  with  one  of  the  Utopian  crowns.  None  but 
offspring  of  the  chosen  people  were  named  for  the 
regal  vacancies.  All  received  titles  of  some  royal 
biblical  celebrity.  For  a  wonder,  neither  Gentile  nor 


472  BEN  BEOR. 

Christian  took  umbrage  at  this.  Was  it  not  the 
restoration  of  the  ancient  people  of  God  ?  It  became 
plausible  that  none  but  the  seed  of  Abraham  would 
have  share  directly  in  his  glorious  work. 

With  this  fanatical  act  the  movement  had  reached 
the  acme  of  its  glory.  That  self-same  day  the  jour- 
ney of  conquest  to  Constantinople  began.  Prophe- 
cies of  the  miracles  and  achievements  soon  to  happen 
were  published  in  flaming  placards  to  the  faithful. 
The  hour  was  foretold  in  which  the  anointed  of 
the  Lord  should  make  his  victorious  entry  into 
the  city  of  the  golden  horn.  The  voyage  had  to 
be  made  by  sea.  An  ample  number  of  ships  had 
been  provided.  The  star-studded  pennon  of  the  Re- 
deemer was  hoisted  over  a  royal  craft.  Every  one 
who  list  might  go,  but  by  special  command  no 
weapon  of  any  kind  was  allowed  on  board  of  the 
armada.  The  conquests  to  be  achieved  were  those 
of  peace  and  good-will.  So  they  sailed  as  the  Star 
of  Bethlehem  appeared  in  the  sky.  A  terrific  storm, 
however,  arose  in  the  Bosphorus  and  threw  the 
vessels  on  a  lonely  spot  bordering  the  Dardanelles. 

The  Sultan's  government  had  been  apprised  of  the 
revolutionary  doings  of  Sabbathai  Zevi  and  watched 
his  proceedings  with  anxious  attention.  The  Mendes 
colony  in  Constantinople  held  aloof  from  the  popular 
infatuation,  and  keeping  well  informed  of  its  prog- 
ress, no  doubt  kept  the  authorities  posted  of  what  was 
going  on.  The  Grand  Vizier  Achmed  Kopreli,  a 
sagacious,  stern  and  determined  man,  was  entrusted 
by  the  Serail  to  watch  over  the  enthusiasts  and  crush 
them  if  possible  with  one  blow  at  the  first  opportu-, 
nity.  Knowing  their  coming  by  water,  he  had  sent 
out  a  well-armed  maritime  expedition  with  orders  to 
destroy  the  ships  and  to  bring  all  who  escaped  drown- 
ing loaded  with  chains  as  captives  into  his  presence. 
When  therefore  the  storm-tossed  ships  from  Smyrna 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  473 

foundered,  their  passengers  found  themselves  in  the 
hands  of  the  Turkish  men-of-war,  who  had  watched 
for  them  and  here  surprised  the  entire  host.  It  was 
a  sorry  spectacle  to  see  the  proud,  stalwart  Messiah 
loaded  with  heavy  irons,  and  many  wept  as  he  was 
led  to  the  hold  of  the  commander's  ship  to  isolated 
imprisonment.  Disenchanted  Sarah  was  perhaps 
the  most  indifferent  spectator.  She  had  foreseen  that 
something  of  this  nature  must  ultimately  happen  to 
burst  the  over-inflated  bubble.  This  strange-natured 
woman  spent  most  of  her  time  henceforth  in  consol- 
ing the  almost  despairing  Prinao.  The  captive  Jews 
were  landed  first  in  a  small  suburb  of  the  metropo- 
lis to  give  them  a  chance  to  celebrate  their  now 
approaching  Sabbath.  Next  Sunday  morning  they 
were  escorted  by  land  to  Constantinople.  Here  Zevi 
was  publicly  flagellated,  and  he  cowardly  owned  to 
the  examining  magistrate,  Mustapha  Pasha,  that  he 
was  none  else  but  a  travelling  rabbi  who  had  come 
from  Jerusalem  to  gather  alms.  It  was  not  his  fault, 
he  added,  that  the  people  made  so  much  of  him.  He 
was  sent  after  due  process  to  the  fortress  of  Abydos 
on  the  Dardanelles  as  a  prisoner  of  state.  His 
quasi-wife  and  secretary  were  permitted  to  accom- 
pany him.  The  rest  of  his  still  faithful  followers 
were  permitted  to  depart  to  their  homes,  but  many 
lingered  about  awaiting  some  miraculous  deliver- 
ance. Zevi  was  treated  leniently  and  with  an  un- 
wonted and  unexpected  generosity  by  the  Sultan. 
In  consequence  the  arrant  traitor  entered  upon  new 
schemes  and  machinations  to  revive  his  waning  cause. 
He  once  more  assumed  the  role  of  a  Messiah.  From 
all  parts  of  the  globe  Jewish  pilgrims  came  to  see  the 
captive  lion,  in  whom  they  still  had  faith.  All  the 
misfortunes  of  his  late  experience  were  prophetically 
the  necessary  concomitants  to  his  final  mission.  At 
the  latest  within  two  years  this  would  be  achieved 


474  BEN  BEOR. 

and  the  Kingdom  of  Israel  in  the  Holy  Land  re- 
established in  greater  glory  than  ever  before.  Pre- 
vious, however,  the  Torah  and  the  Talmud  must  be 
totally  abolished.  Despite  of  this  anomalous  decree, 
the  orthodox  Hungarian  and  Polish  Hebrews  became 
his  warmest  adherents.  These  had  long  since  dab- 
bled in  the  mysteries  of  the  Kabbalah,  and  lived  now 
in  such  misery  and  misfortune  under  their  cruel  op- 
pressions that  anything  which  promised  relief  was 
acceptable  for  a  hope  of  betterment.  Among  the 
fanatics  a  sect  was  established  by  the  name  of  their 
leader — the  Sabbatharians.  They  steadily  increased 
in  numbers  and  influence.  The  tumult  abroad  had 
either  not  ceased  or  was  revived  with  renewed  vigor 
by  messengers  and  proclamations.  A  formal  govern- 
ment and  court  was  re-established  at  Abydos  with 
connivance  of  the  subservient  castellan,  whose  eyes 
were  blinded  by  golden  gifts.  The  agitation  in  the 
larger  continental  cities  continued  with  unabated 
fury,  and  this  among  all  religious  denominations. 
The  news  of  the  incarceration  of  the  Ben  David 
either  had  not  reached  them  or  was  not  believed. 
But  the  overstrung-,  artificial  excitement  under  so 
unfavorable  circumstances,  with  the  hero  in  confine- 
ment, could  not  long  remain  a  secret  at  the  head- 
quarters of  the  Sultan.  When  information  reached 
him,  a  consultation  took  place  between  Mahomed  IV., 
the  Chief  Mufti  Wanni,  and  the  court  physician 
Didon,  a  Jewish  proselyte  to  the  Moslem  faith. 
After  long  deliberation  it  was  agreed  to  give  the  arch 
disturber  of  the  peace  choice  between  death  and  ac- 
ceptance of  the  Islam.  A  messenger  (Tschansch) 
with  troops  was  sent  to  Abydos.  He  first  dispersed 
the  mob  that  had  gathered  here  in  immense  numbers 
to  do  reverence  to  their  idol;  then  they  took  the 
prisoner  and  departed  with  him  to  the  capital.  Now 
he  was  met  by  the  court  physician,  informed  of  his 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  475 

sentence  and  urged  to  abjure  his  faith.  "If  this  is 
refused,"  the  wily  advocate  of  conversion  added, 
"  burning  torches  will  be  bound  around  thy  body 
and  then  set  afire;  thou  wilt  be  whipped  through 
the  streets  until  life  is  consumed."  But  it  did  not 
need  these  threats.  The  pseudo-Messiah  had  already 
made  up  his  mind.  How  could  the  exultant,  ex- 
pectant world,  and  especially  the  deluded  Hebrews, 
be  made  now  more  chagrined,  disorganized  and 
shamed  than  if  their  boasted  Redeemer  in  sight  of 
all  the  people  submitted  to  the  demand  of  the  Sul- 
tan and  became  pusillanimously  a  convert  to  Allah 
and  his  Prophet?  Consternation  and  chaos  would 
overtake  civilization,  reform  and  learning.  A 
greater  blow  could  not  well  be  dealt  to  them  all.  So 
it  was  not  hard  for  me,  the  Ben  Beor,  to  decide  what  to 
choose.  My  resolution  being  made  known,  the  Chief 
Mufti  waived  all  preliminaries,  and  the  ceremony  of 
conversion  was  publicly  and  with  great  pomp  and 
display  performed  at  the  principal  mosque  of  the 
capital.  The  great  Ben  David  had  become  a  little 
dervish  of  the  Moslem  faith. 

Sarah  and  Primo  were  present  at  the  humiliating 
spectacle.  The  woman  was  not  surprised  at  the 
craven  action  of  the  would-be  Messiah.  She  had 
looked  him  so  through  and  through,  was  so  fully 
convinced  of  his  cowardice  and  villainy,  that  the  farce 
here  performed  was  to  her  but  a  fit  climax  to  the 
comedy  which  had  preceded.  Primo,  however,  was 
livid  with  rage.  His  faith  and  trust  in  the  chosen 
of  the  Lord  had  remained  firm  to  the  last.  He  was 
convinced  that  at  the  final  moment  even,  his  master 
would  raise  his  right  hand  and,  by  bringing  down  the 
wrath  of  heaven,  smite  the  captors  and  revilers  from 
head  to  foot.  But  as  Zevi  permitted  himself  like  a 
patient  lamb  to  be  led  to  the  golden  crescent,  as  he 
himself  threw  down  the  crown  from  his  head  and 


476  BEN  BEOR. 

with  his  own  hand  changed  it  for  the  white  turban 
of  the  infidels,  Primo  swooned  away  and  had  to  be 
carried  out  of  the  holy  place.  By  Sarah's  direction 
he  was  taken  to  the  Mendes  colony.  Here  under 
her  tender  care  the  nearly  heartbroken  man  soon 
revived.  Thus  far  he  had  withstood  all  blandish- 
ments and  seductive  graces  of  the  woman,  now  his 
nurse.  His  great  reverence  and  awe  for  his  former 
master  did  not  permit  him  to  raise  his  eyes  in  long- 
ing even  to  the  sacred  wife.  He  knew  that  she  dis- 
loyally had  placed  herself  repeatedly  in  his  way  with 
such  tokens  of  affection  as  could  not  be  well  misin- 
terpreted. He  was  aware  that  there  was  but  the 
coldest  and  most  formal  relation  between  the  strange 
pair,  but  he  had  steeled  his  heart  like  unto  flint 
against  harboring  the  faintest  feelings  of  treason 
against  the  august  person  of  the  Messiah.  Now  that 
the  veil  was  lifted  and  the  base  idol  was  shattered, 
he  no  longer  resisted  the  long  suppressed,  passionate 
inclinations  of  his  affections.  It  was  no  hard  wooing 
and  winning.  The  two,  who  seemed  to  be  made  for 
one  another,  were  shortly  after  married,  stayed  at  the 
colony  in  contented  retirement,  and  a  happier  pair 
was  not  known  to  live  among  the  here  prosperous 
Israelites. 

The  ridiculous  Messianic  denouement  and  catas- 
trophe was  indeed  a  great  shock  to  the  disenchanted 
nations  and  people.  For  some  time  there  were  thou- 
sands who  would  not  believe  the  humiliating  reports. 
They  asserted  that  these  were  the  malignant  work  of 
revilers  and  slanderers.  But  the  truth  had  to  be 
accepted  at  last.  While  the  recoil  was  like  a  stab  in 
the  heart  of  the  faithful,  yet,  the  first  convulsive 
pang  over,  cool  judgment  and  sagacious  measures 
everywhere  brought  order  out  of  chaos,  and  the  dam- 
age wrought,  though  great,  was  neither  fatal  nor  last- 
ing. Wise  and  conciliatory  measures  were  adopted 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  477 

by  the  secular  authorities.  The  clergy  everywhere 
united  to  efface  as  much  as  possible  the  memory  of 
the  delusion,  and  the  rabbins  ordained  that  excom- 
munication should  be  pronounced  against  any  one 
who  taunted  or  reviled  a  former  adherent  to  the 
folly.  Within  a  decade,  Time,  with  her  all-healing 
hand,  had  spread  her  soothing  shadows  over  the 
scars  left  by  the  wound  civilization  had  received  in 
this  wild  eruption,  and  soon  thereafter  it  was  re- 
membered only  as  an  inexplicable  vagary  of  history. 
The  Torah,  the  law  of  God  and  Moses,  survived 
unscathed  to  live,  to  save  and  to  enlighten.  Only 
in  the  dark  and  superstitious  hamlets  and  villages  of 
benighted  Hungary  and  Poland  the  Sabbatharian 
sects  vegetated  and  groped  in  a  blind  existence  for 
years  and  years  to  come. 

And  what  of  the  false  Messiah?  When  the  first 
excitement  of  his  conversion  was  over,  all  reports  to 
the  contrary,  he  disappeared  from  the  scene  of  his 
late  exploit.  Several  pretenders  tried  in  and  by  his 
name  to  renew  some  scheme  to  excite  their  contem- 
poraries with  revived  reports  of  the  Redeemer  being 
on  hand,  and  that  he  was  to  arise  now  from  the 
golden-horned  minarets  of  the  prophet  Mahomet. 
But  the  real  Anti-Messiah,  the  genuine  Wandering 
Gentile,  disappeared  from  here  in  order  to  continue 
his  unceasing  work  of  malediction  against  Enlight- 
enment, Right,  Truth  and  Liberty  in  other  zones 
and  climes. 


478  BEN  BEOR. 

PHANTASMAGORIA  XXII. 

THE  CLIMAX:  FREEDOM  TRIUMPHANT. 

Section  I. — A  Resume. 

It  must  not  be  believed  that  the  hateful  utterances 
of  so  illustrious  a  man  as  old  Martin  Luther  passed 
without  serious  results  to  the  Hebrews.  It  stirred 
anew  spasmodic  ebullitions  of  cruel  outrages  over 
the  fatherland,  for  which  the  great  Reformer  be- 
came responsible.  Nor  was  now  the  presence  of 
the  Anti-Messiah  required  to  start  ugly  passions 
into  active  operation.  The  clannishness,  ignorance 
and  bigoted  notions  of  the  medieval  all-prevailing 
Trades-Unions  (Zuenfte)  were  as  eager  to  commit 
acts  of  violence  as  any  other  agency  possibly  could 
be.  Notable  instances  of  their  inhuman  perform- 
ances were  the  expulsion  of  the  Jews  from  the  free 
city  of  Frankfurt-on-the-Main  in  the  year  1614, 
under  the  leadership  of  a  notorious  master-baker, 
Yincennes  Fatmilk,  and  a  similar  extensive  one  in 
the  city  of  Worms,  under  the  auspices  of  a  petty  law- 
yer named  Doctor  Chemnitz,  both  agitating  about  the 
same  time.  There  is  no  necessity  of  relating  the 
details  of  such  occurrences  enacted  by  the  scum  of 
the  German  people.  They  all  resemble  one  another 
in  cruelty  and  wanton  destruction.  The  fact  must, 
however,  be  noted,  which  became  prominent  among 
the  lawless  uproar,  that  the  better  classes  of  society 
did  not  now  look  on  with  indifference,  but  in  many  in- 
stances commiserated  and  helped  the  hunted  victims. 
The  authorities,  imperial  as  well  as  municipal,  inter- 
ceded with  the  strong  arm  of  the  law,  and  visited 
the  offenders  with  heavy  fines  or  capital  punish- 
ment. Order  was  thereby  to  some  extent  restored. 
All  these  circumstances  could  not  prevail  on  me  to 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  479 

tarry  on  these  grounds,  no  matter  how  necessary  my 
presence  might  be  for  the  suppression  of  religious  and 
political  progress.  Too  long  had  I  stayed  in  the 
Orient  with  that  futile  escapade  of  the  Sabbathai 
Zevi  affair.  My  presence  was  cryingly  demanded  in 
more  northern  regions  of  the  Western  Continent.  I 
had  carelessly  neglected  to  look  after  the  headlong 
march  of  civilization  on  the  Albion  Islands. 
Thither  I  hied  now  with  all  possible  speed.  A 
resume  of  the  affairs  there  will  explain  the  danger 
to  my  cause  in  this  region. 

The  British  populace  has  ever  been  difficult  to 
manage.  They  are  a  sturdy  and  aggressive  people. 
When  scarcely  emerging  from  the  state  of  semi-bar- 
barism they  had,  as  early  as  1215  A.  D.,  wrested 
from  their  tyrant  king  John,  called  Lackland, 
the  foundation  of  national  liberty,  the  peerless 
Magna  Charta,  with  its  supreme  provision  for  per- 
sonal freedom,  culminating  in  the  famous  writ  of 
"  habeas  corpus."  They  had  during  the  Middle 
Ages,  despite  of  all  internal  dissensions  between  the 
clans  and  tribes  and  the  continual  external  wars, 
created  and  maintained  the  supreme  right  to  repre- 
sentation in  the  law-making  and  taxing  powers  of 
the  two  houses  of  Parliament.  From  their  midst 
had  sprung  during  these  often  turbulent  periods  the 
grandest  results  in  art,  science,  philosophy  and  liter- 
ature. England  stands  out  as  the  first  nation  for 
whom  was  made  a  translation  of  the  Bible  in  the 
vernacular,  under  James  L,  1616.  This  was  only 
possible  by  the  successful  introduction  of  the  art  of 
printing  as  early  as  1474.  Although  they  had,  in 
conformity  with  the  ruling  prejudices  of  the  age, 
persecuted  and  expelled  the  Jews  from  the  entire 
dominion  in  the  year  1290  under  Edward  L,  yet 
thanks  to  the  efforts  of  the  great  Rabbi  Menasseh 
ben  Israel,  who  came  over  from  Amsterdam  in  1655 


480  BEN  BEOR. 

and  pleaded  in  their  behalf,  by  the  progress  of  civili- 
zation, they  were  for  the  first  time  after  these  many 
years  legally  permitted  to  return  and  find  an  asylum 
with  nearly  full  rights  of  citizenship.  Except  in  the 
conquered  and  ever-maltreated  Ireland,  the  Church 
of  Rome  had  never  any  great  supremacy  among  the 
Anglo-Saxons  and  Scots,  and  her  power  was  over- 
thrown entirely  almost  contemporaneously  with  the 
Reformer  Martin  Luther  in  Germany.  This  occurred 
during  the  reign  of  Henry  VIII.,  about  the  year  1532. 
What  elsewhere  was  the  work  of  the  people,  ema- 
nated in  Great  Britain  from  the  throne  and  the 
nobility.  Two  women  were  at  the  bottom  of  the 
whole  movement  The  profligate  king  had  mar- 
ried his  deceased  brother's  wife,  Catherine,  a 
daughter  of  the  Spanish  monarchs  Ferdinand  and 
Isabella.  He  soon  tired  of  her  and  fell  in  love  with 
the  beautiful  Anne  Boleyn.  Religious  scruples  were 
the  pretext  for  asking  Pope  Clement  VII.  to  grant 
a  divorce  from  Catherine.  This  being  promptly 
refused  and  a  marriage  with  Anne  forbidden,  the 
enamored  king  defied  the  Holy  Father,  had  his 
creatures,  under  the  first  Protestant  Archbishop 
Cranmer,  pronounce  the  hated  matrimonial  alliance 
annulled  and  the  marriage  with  Boleyn  sanctioned. 
But  the  Pope  remained  firm.  The  unscrupulous 
king  out  of  revenge  convened  Parliament.  This,  to 
please  their  monarch,  subserviently  annulled  the 
papal  authority  over  the  British  Islands  and  declared 
the  English  royal  majesty  to  be  henceforth  the  head 
of  the  Church.  They  thus  joined  the  forces  of  the 
German  Reformation.  But  it  was  in  form  only. 
For  the  schism  on  the  island  resembled  the  power 
of  Rome,  with  the  only  difference  that  the  King  at 
home  exercised  exactly  the  power  of  the  Pope 
abroad.  From  the  start  it  could  be  seen  that  this 
religious  disruption  was  paramount  to  a  political 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  481 

revolution  also.  It  became  patent  that  this  organic 
movement,  which  took  place  with  such  violent  and 
turbulent  consequences,  became  the  centre  of  re- 
bellion, which  must  spread  abroad  until,  sooner  or 
later,  the  old  theory  of  government  with  the  right 
of  the  king  to  rule  by  divine  origin  was  destroyed  or 
modified  in  every  civilized  state  of  the  world. 

As  if  by  providential  interposition,  the  haughty 
Spaniard,  under  the  monstrous  tyrant  Philip  II., 
should  find  his  downfall  in  the  gigantic  effort  to 
crush  by  his  navy,  fancied  all-powerful,  called  the 
"  Armada,"  his  rival  and  hated  foe,  the  matchless 
heroine  Elizabeth.  The  intent  to  restore  Catholi- 
cism on  the  English  throne  was  foiled  by  a  raging 
storm  in  the  Channel.  The  thirst  for  revenge, 
because  the  British  queen  had  refused  Philip's  offer 
of  marriage,  remained  unappeased  by  the  courage  of 
the  brave  captain  Lord  Howard  of  Effingham  and 
his  gallant  sailors.  And  the  wrath  of  fate  was 
visited  upon  the  ill-advised  and  malconducted 
maritime  expedition,  when  the  bulky,  unmanageable 
caravals  of  Spain  found  their  graves  amidst  the 
reefs  and  shoals  of  Scotland  and  Ireland.  Eternal 
justice  executed  here  the 'sentence  of  compensation 
upon  doomed  Spain,  levelling  her  might  and  power, 
never  to  rise  again,  against  outraged  humanity. 
Henceforth  "  Britannia  ruled  as  the  mistress  of  the 
sea."  Such  was  the  record  of  1588. 

Ponderous  events  followed  sharply  in  the  now 
united  three  kingdoms,  culminating  in  the  over- 
whelming episode  which  transpired  not  more  than 
fifty  years  after  the  great  Elizabethan  reign,  under 
her  second  successor  Charles  I.  The  struggle  of 
this  despotic  and  overbearing  king  with  Parliament — 
an  arbitrary  sovereign  against  his  liberty-loving 
people,  led  the  monarch  ultimately  to  the  execu- 
tioner's block,  crushing  with  his  downfall  and  death 


482  BEN  BEOR. 

the  monarchy,  and  raising  the  republic  with  the 
supremely  strong  and  noble  Oliver  Cromwell  at  the 
head  of  the  newly  established  commonwealth.  But 
that  the  people  here,  as  elsewhere,  proved  to  be  too 
unripe  for  self-government;  but  that  their  frenzied 
sectarian  strifes  divided  and  disunited  their  omnipo- 
tent strength,  all  would  have  been  over  with  the 
thrones  and  monarchs,  and  universal  democracy 
might  have  taken  the  place  of  the  political  govern- 
ment. As  it  was,  the  republic  proved  an  ephemeral 
episode,  like  a  lightning  flash  in  the  dark  history  of 
despotism.  The  death  of  Charles  and  the  audacity 
of  the  Protector  Cromwell  were  avenged  by  the  res- 
toration of  the  throne  with  a  new  king,  accompanied 
by  the  cruel  consequences  of  a  restored  royalty.  In 
this,  historical  events  passed  for  a  long  time. 

All  was  not  lost  yet  for  Ben  Beor,  the  Anti-Mes- 
siah, as  he  landed  on  the  shores  of  Albion  shortly 
after  George  III.  had  ascended  the  British  throne  in 
1760.  Truly  affairs  looked  squally  and  boisterous, 
but  the  most  threatening  clouds  came  from  across  the 
ocean.  There  a  new  world  had  arisen.  Christopher 
Columbus  had  primarily  discovered  it.  After  sail- 
ing out  with  his  three  insignificant  caravals  on  that 
momentous  third  day  of  August,  1492,  and  after 
twice  repeating  his  successful  voyages  of  discovery, 
he  had  given  to  the  world  and  to  his  sovereigns  a 
new  continent,  glorious  America.  Perfidious  Ferdi- 
nand and  Isabella  on  his  third  return  loaded  him 
with  chains  of  a  common  felon.  He  sank  into  his 
grave  heartbroken  by  the  base  ingratitude  of  his 
royal  patrons  and  the  world  at  large.  Not  even  his 
ashes  were  permitted  to  find  a  resting  place  either 
in  his  native  Genoa  or  in  the  soil  of  his  adopted 
country ;  but  after  being  carried  from  one  place  to 
another  in  Spain,  they  were  at  last  shipped  to  St. 
Domingo  and  then  to  Havana,  there  across  the  ocean 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  483 

to  find  a  last  resting  place.  While  even*  deprived 
the  honor  of  having  the  country  of  his  discovery 
known  by  his  name,  Americas  Vespucio  snatching 
that  privilege  from  him,  yet  in  the  annals  of  humanity 
there  is  no  brighter  and  more  glorious  record  than 
that  left  behind  him  for  time  and  ages.  The  ingrate 
Ferdinand  could  not  refuse  to  erect  a  marble  statue 
to  his  memory  and  inscribe  thereon  :  "  A  Castilla 
y  a  Leona  nuevo  mundo  dio  colon."  (To  Castile 
and  Leon,  Columbus  gave  a  new  world.) 

Spain  remained,  however,  not  long  in  exclusive 
possession  of  the  newly  acquired  territory.  France, 
Portugal,  Holland,  and  especially  England,  sent  their 
bold  mariners  across  the  ocean,  there  to  discover  new 
lands,  plant  colonies  and  introduce  in  them  Euro- 
pean vices,  cruelties,  intolerance  and  bloody  scenes 
of  the  home  countries.  The  natives,  whom  they 
called  Indians,  were  mostly  hospitable  and  brave 
tribes.  Some  of  these,  especially  the  Aztecs,  vied  in 
refinement  and  civilization  with  their  lately  arrived 
invaders;  yet  they  were  maltreated,  plundered  and 
goaded  into  bloody  warfare,  and  many  were  utterly 
exterminated.  The  rough  adventurers  who  came 
here  first  were,  however,  soon  superseded  by  a  dif- 
ferent class  of  people.  As  the  news  spread  abroad 
of  the  extensive,  fertile  and  beautiful  hemisphere 
across  the  Atlantic,  the  oppressed  and  persecuted  of  all 
lands  flocked  thither  to  find  liberty  of  conscience 
and  new  homes.  A  large  number  of  Huguenots  from 
France  took  ships  for  the  southern  portion  of  Middle 
America  "and  settled  in  the  States  called  South  and 
North  Carolina,  Florida  and  Louisiana.  They 
brought  with  them  their  French  habits,  education 
and  refinement,  and  flourished  soon  in  all  their  colo- 
nies. The  hunted  Puritans  of  England  and  adjoining 
countries  fled  Westward  also,  and,  after  successfully 
crossing  the  ocean,  inhabited  the  more  northern 


484  BEN  BEOR. 

regions.  -  Their  colonies,  too,  after  many  hardships 
and  struggles,  became  extensive  and  prosperous, 
maintaining  and  perpetuating  the  distinctive  char- 
acteristics of  their  nativities.  These  settlements 
growing  into  majestic  proportions,  remained  nomi- 
nally under  rule  and  control  of  the  Old  World.  But 
governments  from  abroad  for  these  distant  lands 
meant  nothing  except  devastating  wars  between  rival 
monarchies,  carried  on  here  at  the  woful  expense  of 
the  settlers ;  the  sending  of  the  most  arrogant  and 
objectionable  aristocrats  representing  the  far-away 
thrones;  the  exacting  of  oppressive  taxes  and  the 
harassing  troubles  heaped  upon  trade,  commerce 
and  the  development  of  natural  resources.  These 
galling  objections  had  made  themselves  bitterly  felt 
of  late  in  the  wide  extent  of  the  British  possessions, 
ranging  now  from  Canada  to  the  Gulf  of  Mexico. 
Nothing  but  the  iron  hand  of  veriest  despotism  could 
keep  the  distant  subjects  much  longer  in  subjection. 
At  this  juncture  I  e'ntered  upon  the  auspicious  scene. 
Information  had  reached  London  of  great  discon- 
tent and  even  lawless  acts  by  the  several  Trans- 
Atlantic  settlers  against  the  policy  of  the  home  gov- 
ernment. The  newly  incoming  administration  was 
resolved  upon  stringent  measures  to  keep  the  colo- 
nies in  strict  subjection.  The  peculiar  character  of 
the  new  king  fitted  him  exactly  for  carrying  out  this 
despotic  policy.  Up  to  the  time  of  his  ascending  the 
throne,  he  had  resided  with  his  mother,  the  Princess 
Dowager  of  Wales.  George  II.  had  cherished  a 
deep  antipathy  for  that  lady,  and  this  feeling  was 
cordially  reciprocated  by  her.  By  these  circum- 
stances the  future  heir  to  the  realm  was  excluded 
from  the  court  of  his  grandfather,  which  brought  the 
calamity  of  the  neglect  for  his  proper  education. 
Secluded  thus,  the  young  Crown  Prince  was  left 
comparatively  ignorant  of  the  kingdom's  political 


HISTORICAL    PHANTASMAGORIA.    '         485 

condition;  and  in  general  he  had  little  familiarity 
with  those  questions  which  should  form  the  supreme 
issues  as  soon  as  he  became  the  sovereign  of  the 
mighty  kingdom.  In  addition  to  this,  his  disposi- 
tion was  arbitrary  and  crafty,  and  the  methods  which 
he  adopted,  recalled  those  which  brought  about  the 
downfall  of  the  Stuarts.  The  fact  is  everywhere  ap- 
parent that  an  hereditary  taint  of  insanity  mani- 
fested itself  early  m  his  career,  growing  finally  to 
complete  madness.  With  such  a  person  at  the  head 
of  aifairs  it  was  not  impossible  to  hurl,  by  acts  of 
violence,  proud  England,  with  her  love  for  freedom 
and  independence,  into  the  vortex  of  destruction  and 
regain  the  mastery  of  the  old  absolute  power  of  the 
Throne  and  the  Church.  True,  these  things  must  be 
brought  about  by  cunning,  wile  and  mischievous 
stratagem ;  but  these  were  the  very  essence  of  my 
destructive,  scheming  nature,  and  so  I  set  to  work 
to  get  my  hands  into  the  well-planned  work.  I 
found,  however,  great  obstacles  with  the  ministry 
which  just  then  guided  the  aifairs  of  the  state. 

William  Pitt,  a  man  of  immense  brain,  firmness 
of  character  and  almost  prophetic  foresight,  held  the 
helm  in  the  Department  of  War,  and  from  there,  at 
the  zenith  of  his  influence,  resisted  the  wishes  and 
ambitions  of  the  King.  His  Majesty  was  from  the 
beginning  of  his  reign  possessed  with  the  wild  notion 
that  the  royal  prerogative  had  declined  in  dignity  and 
extent  of  power  since  the  Cromwell  revolution ;  that 
it  was  now  little  more  than  an  empty  name,  and  that 
it  was  his  special  mission  and  duty  to  become  an  ab- 
solute sovereign  by  divine  grace.  Inspired  by  such 
a  hazardous  idea,  he  forced  his  great  minister  to 
resign  office  in  October,  1761.  With  this  to  me 
fortunate  event  there  went  also  in  retirement  a  per- 
son whose  innate  shrinking  and  timid  nature  alone 
has  kept  his  name  in  oblivion,  contemporaneous 


486  BEN  BEOR. 

history  omitting  it  entirely  from  her  records,  being 
too  much  engaged,  as  is  her  wont,  in  perpetuating  the 
follies  and  guiles  of  puerile,  despotic  dynasties, 
arrogant  courtiers  and  both  their  shameful  lusts  and 
amative  intrigues.  The  character,  so  ignominiously 
slighted,  was  a  certain  Perez  Mendes,  a  direct  off- 
spring from  the  remarkable  Jew  colony  in  Constan- 
tinople. Wheryi  youth  he  had  received,  under  care 
of  his  illustrious  Turkish  relatives,  the  highest  edu- 
cational advantages,  both  spiritual  and  secular,  and 
was  sent  to  the  University  of  Bologna,  then  the 
foremost  seat  of  learning  in  Europe.  After  acquir- 
ing with  distinguished  honors  the  title  of  Doctor  and 
Rabbi,  he  went  on  an  extensive  tour  of  continental 
travels,  which  brought  him  to  London.  Here,  by 
reason  of  his  great  learning,  notwithstanding  an 
innate  and  morbid  modesty,  he  found  himself  soon 
within  a  circle  of  the  foremost  savants,  becoming  a 
special  favorite  with  the  then  celebrated  and  influential 
Sam  Jonson,  who  introduced  the  young  man  to  the 
prime  minister  Pitt.  This  great  statesman,  with  his 
keen  knowledge  of  human  character,  took  a  strong 
liking  for  the  Jew  and  appointed  him  as  his  private 
secretary.  In  this  capacity  the  whole  work  of  state 
passed  through  his  hands.  The  world  will  never 
know  what  share  such  subordinate  servants  had  and 
have  in  the  lustrous  fame  of  their  superiors. 
Happy  is  certainly  the  great  commander  who  wins 
trusted  and  capable  lieutenants  to  comprehend  his 
plans  and  carry  out  successfully  the  details  of  the 
master's  conceptions.  Such  a  person  was  Mendes. 
In  the  midst  of  his  never-ceasing  occupation  he  yet 
found  time  to  woo  and  win  the  hand  and  heart  of  a 
most  estimable  lady,  who,  alas !  at  the  birth  of  their 
daughter  Judith,  made  the  husband  a  disconsolate 
widower  and  the  infant  a  motherless  orphan.  Men- 
des idolized  the  child.  She  grew  up  to  maidenhood. 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  487 

He  bestowed  all  his  devotion  and  learning  on  the 
education  of  the  girl,  who  developed  soon  into  a 
tenderly  affectionate  daughter,  beautiful  in  counte- 
nance and  a  mind  bright  far  beyond  her  years.  She 
was  now  fourteen  years  old  and  just  budding  into 
womanhood,  when  I,  Ben  Beor,  for  the  first  time 
visited  their  home  by  invitation  of  the  father,  with 
whom  I  had  become  personally  acquainted  and  soon 
had  established  intimate  relations.  At  the  sight  of 
the  girl  I  was  perfectly  staggered.  She  was  an 
identical  copy  in  feature  and  form  of  that  ideal 
woman  whose  vision  had  haunted  me  through  all 
the  ages — a  reproduced  Merris,  the  queenly  daugh- 
ter of  Pharaoh.  At  once  brilliant  and  profound,  she 
evinced  such  piety,  devotion  and  religious  trust  of 
an  ether ial,  poetical  nature  as  to  surround  her  almost 
with  a  halo  of  angelic  sanctity.  She  had  never  min- 
gled much  with  the  world,  and  her  innocence  and 
artlessness  were  really  refreshing  in  comparison  with 
the  bold  and  painted  creatures  who  filled  the  courts 
and  the  aristocratic  households  among  whom  I  had 
mingled  of  late.  When  the  father  acquainted  the 
child  of  the  dismissal  of  the  ministry  and  his  own 
lost  situation,  it  was  wonderful  to  see  how  her  kind, 
loving  words  and  fond  caresses  filled  the  man  with 
consolation  and  resignation. 

Sir  John  Granville  now  came  into  power  as  the 
head  of  the  ministry.  He  proved  a  submissive  tool 
in  the  hands  of  the  king,  with  little  force  of  charac- 
ter, of  ordinary  capacity  only,  naturally  indolent  and 
inert,  leaving  most  of  the  work  of  his  great  office  to 
his  subordinates.  By  high  recommendation  to  His 
Majesty  and  the  new  minister  I  had  been  chosen  as 
successor  to  Mendes,  in  consequence  of  which  I 
became  acquainted  and  then  intimately  associated 
with  this  remarkable  person,  my  predecessor,  with 
whom  I  thenceforth  kept  up  continual  social  rela- 


488  BEN  BEOE. 

tions.  Frequently  present  at  interviews  between 
George  III.  and  Granville,  I  had  in  several  instances 
audaciously  permitted  myself  to  strongly  favor  the 
opinions  of  the  king  against  the  mild  objections  of 
the  minister,  and  was  rewarded  for'  this  by  the 
royal  smiles  and  frequent  appeals  to  my  opinion  in 
their  controversies.  It  all  concerned  the  policy  to 
be  adopted  and  enforced  in  the  American  colonies. 
I  soon  found  the  sovereign  the  very  person  to  bring 
about  a  conflict  with  the  interoceanic  possessions. 
He  certainly  was  one  of  the  worst  monorchs  to  fill 
the  throne  in  the  pending  crisis.  Hk  notion  of  gov- 
ernment was  altogether  despotic.  Stubborn,  stupid 
and  thick-headed,  the  principles  of  human  rights  as 
modern  civilization  had  developed  were  entirely 
wanting  in  him.  H:  could  not  conceive  a  magnani- 
mous project,  nor  had  ho  force  of  character  sufficient 
to  carry  out  his  evil  ones.  With  such  a  king  and 
ever-subservient  ministry,  it  was  not  likely  that  the 
descendants  of  the  Puritan  Pilgrims  and  Hugue- 
nots would  get  on  smoothly. 

Section  II. — The  Coming  Crisis. 

Oppressive  measures  for  the  Americans  were  the 
pet  schemes  of  the  British  crown  The  half-de- 
mented king  prevailed  upon  hits  minister,  and  he 
upon  parliament,  which  plunged  headlong  into  this 
course.  A  number  of  acts  destructive  of  colonial 
liberty  were  readily  passed.  The  first  of  these  was 
the  Importation  Act.  It  had  existed  since  1733, 
but  was  evaded  by  the  merchants.  By  its  terms 
heavy  taxes  were  laid  on  sugar,  molasses  and  rum 
when  imported.  It  further  provided  that  no  iron 
works  should  be  erected  abroad ;  the  manufacture  of 
steel  was  especially  forbidden.  Thus  far  these  stat- 
utes were  dead  letters,  disregarded  and  denounced 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  489 

by  the  people  across  the  Atlantic  as  unjust  and 
obnoxious.  In  1761,  with  the  new  incoming  Gran- 
ville  ministry  a  strenuous  effort  was  made  to  enforce 
the  hated  la\YS.  The  courts  in  America  were  author- 
ized to  issue  to  the  King's  officers  search-warrants, 
called  "writs  of  assistance."  Armed  with  these, 
any  petty  constable  might  enter  wherever  he  list, 
searching  for  and  seizing  goods  suspected  of  having 
evaded  the  duty.  In  1763  the  officers  of  the  admi- 
ralty were  authorized  to  seize  and  confiscate  all  ves- 
sels engaged  in  the  unlawful  trade. 

A  great  number  of  merchantmen  having  cargoes 
of  sugar  and  wine  were  thus  attached.  The  colonial 
trade  with  the  West  Indies  was  nearly  destroyed. 
All  remonstrance  from  the  oppressed  was  in  vain. 
Next  year,  in  1764,  a  far  more  oppressive  measure, 
galling  to  the  very  brink  of  revolt,  was  passed  by 
Parliament.  By  direct  command  from  His  Majesty, 
which  I,  as  private  secretary  of  the  ministry  of 
foreign  affairs,  brought  to  the  House  on  the  10th 
day  of  March,  a  resolution  was  adopted  by  the* 
Commons  that  it  would  be  proper  to  charge  certain 
"  stamp  duties  "  on  all  public  documents  emanating 
from  the  dependencies.  It  was  announced  that  a 
bill  embodying  the  principles  would  be  prepared  by 
the  ministry  and  be  presented  at  the  next  session  o'f 
Parliament.  The  framing  of  this  law  became  my 
task.  The  news  of  this  proposed  measure  reached 
America  and  caused  there  universal  excitement  and 
indignation.  Political  meetings  became  the  order 
of  the  day.  Orators  of  unusual  force  stirred  the 
masses  to  fever  heat.  The  newspapers,  already 
great  engines  for  forming  public  opinion,  teemed 
with  rousing  arguments  against  the  proposed  bill. 
Resolutions  were  passed  by  the  people  of  almost 
every  town.  Formal  remonstrances  were  addressed 
to  the  King  and  to  Parliament.  Agents  were  sent 


490  BEN  BEOR. 

to  London  in  hope  of  preventing  the  passage  of 
the  act. 

Early  in  March,  1765,  the  Stamp  Act  was  passed. 
In  the  House  of  Commons  it  received  a  majority  of 
five  to  one.  In  the  House  of  Lords  the  vote  was 
unanimous.  Here  is  the  text  of  the  act  as  submitted 
and  legalized : 

THE   STAMP   ACT. 

"  Whereas,  By  an  act  made  in  the  last  session  of 
Parliament  several  duties  were  granted,  continued 
and  appropriated  towards  defraying  the  expenses  of 
defending,  protecting  and  securing  the  British  Colo- 
nies and  Plantations  in  America ;  and  whereas  it  is 
of  first  necessity  that  provision  be  made  for  raising 
revenue  within  your  Majesty's  dominions  in  Amer- 
ica, towards  defraying  the  said  expenses,  we,  your 
Majesty's  most  dutiful  and  loyal  subjects,  the  Com- 
mons of  Great  Britain  in  Parliament  assembled, 
^ave  therefore  resolved  to  give  and  grant  unto  your 
Majesty  the  several  rights  and  duties  hereinafter 
mentioned,  and  do  most  humbly  beseech  your 
Majesty  that  it  may  be  enacted,  and  be  it  enacted 
by  the  King's  Most  Excellent  Majesty,  by  and  with 
the  advice  and  consent  of  the  Lords  spiritual  and 
temporal,  and  Commons  in  this  present  Parliament 
assembled,  and  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  that 
from  and  after  the  1st  day  of  November,  1765,  there 
shall  be  raised,  levied,  collected  and  paid  unto  his 
Majesty,  his  heirs  and  successors,  throughout  the 
Colonies  and  Plantations  in  America,  which  now 
are  or  hereafter  may  be  under  the  dominion  of  his 
Majesty,  his  heirs  and  successors. 

"  1st.  For  every  skin  of  vellum  or  parchment  or 
sheet  of  paper  on  which  shall  be  engrossed,  written 
or  printed  any  declaration,  plea,  replication,  rejoin- 
der, demurrer,  or  other  pleading,  or  any  copy  thereof, 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  491 

in  any  court  of  law  within  the  British  Colonies  and 
Plantations  in  America,  a  stamp  duty  of  three  pence. 
[Here  follow  fifty-three  other  provisions  of  stamp 
duties  on  all  kinds  of  writings,  documents,  playing 
cards,  dice,  newspapers  and  pamphlets,  almanacs 
and  contracts.] 

"55.  Finally,  the  produce  of  all  the  aforemen- 
tioned duties  shall  be  paid  into  his  Majesty's  treasury, 
and  there  be  held  in  reserve,  to  be  used  from  time  to 
time  by  the  Parliament  for  the  purpose  of  defraying 
the  expenses  necessary  for  the  defense,  protection  and 
security  of  the  said  Colonies  and  Plantations." 

The  news  of  the  hateful  thing  swept  over  America 
like  the  bursting  of  a  storm-cloud.  Crowds  of  ex- 
cited men  surged  into  the  towns.  Acts  of  violence 
were  committed.  The  muffled  bells  of  Philadelphia 
and  Boston,  the  two  chief  cities,  rang  funeral  peals, 
and  people  everywhere  declared  it  was  the  death- 
knell  of  liberty.  In  the  metropolis,  New  York,  a 
copy  of  the  act  was  carried  through  the  streets  with 
a  death's-head  nailed  to  it  and  a  placard  bearing 
the  inscription:  "The  Folly  of  England  and  the 
Ruin  of  America !  " 

In  the  Virginia  House  of  Burgesses,  the  oldest 
and  most  powerful  representative  body  of  the  land, 
there  occurred  a  memorable  scene.  Patrick  Henry, 
the  youngest  member  of  the  house,  a  true  scion  of 
Irish  stock,  an  uneducated  mountaineer,  only  recently 
chosen  to  a  seat  in  the  provincial  legislature,  after 
waiting  in  vain  for  some  older  delegate  to  lead  in 
opposition  to  Parliament,  in  his  passionate  way  at 
length  snatched  a  blank  leaf  out  of  an  old  law- 
book,  hastily  drew  up  a  series  of  resolutions  declar- 
ing that  the  Virginians  were  Englishmen  with  Eng- 
lish "rights;  that  the  people  of  Great  Britain  had 
the  exclusive  privilege  and  right  of  voting  their  own 
taxes,  and  so  had  the  Americans !  That  the  colonies 


492  BEN  BEOR. 

were  not  bound  to  yield  obedience  ta  any  law  impos- 
ing taxation  on  them,  and  whosoever  said  to  the 
contrary  was  an  enemy  to  the  country.  The  resolu- 
tions were  at  once  laid  before  the  house. 

A  violent  debate  ensued  in  which  the  patriots  had 
the  best  of  the  argument.  It  was  a  moment  of 
intense  interest.  One  man  of  most  remarkable 
character,  who  was  to  play  great  parts  in  future 
history,  was  in  the  body.  George  Washington 
occupied  a  seat  as  one  of  the  delegates;  he  was  as 
vet  a  young  statesman.  The  eloquent  and  audacious 
Patrick  Henry  bore  down  all  opposition.  "  Tarquin 
and  Caesar  had  each  his  Brutus ! "  exclaimed  the 
indignant  orator;  "Charles  I.  had  his  Cromwell, 
and  George  III." — "Treason!"  shouted  the 
Speaker.  "  Treason — treason !  "  exclaimed  the  ter- 
rified loyalists,  springing  to  their  feet.  "And 
George  III.  may  profit  by  their  example/7  continued 
Henry.  Then  he  added,  as  he  took  his  seat:  "If 
this  be  treason,  make  the  most  of  it !  "  The  resolu- 
tions were  put  to  the  house  and  carried.  Similar 
ones  were  adopted  by  the  assembly  in  New  York 
and  Massachusetts.  At  Boston  a  certain  James 
Otis  successfully  agitated  the  question  of  an  Ameri- 
can Congress.  It  was  proposed  that  each  colony, 
acting  without  the  leave  of  the  king,  should  appoint 
delegates  to  meet  in  the  following  autumn  for  the 
purpose  of  discussing  the  affairs  of  the  nation. 
The  proposition  was  favorably  received  and  nine  of 
the  colonies  appointed  delegates.  On  the  seventh 
day  of  October  the  first  colonial  congress  assembled 
in  New  York.  There  were  28  representatives. 
Timothy  Ruggles  of  Massachusetts  was  chosen  presi- 
dent. After  much  discussion  a  Declaration  of  Rights 
was  adopted,  setting  forth  in  unmistakable  terms  that 
the  colonists  as  Englishmen  could  not  and  would 
not  consent  to  be  taxed  without  representation. 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  493 

On  the  1st  day  of  November  the  Stamp  Act  was 
to  take  effect.  During  the  summer  great  quantities 
of  the  stamped  paper  had  been  forwarded  to  America, 
but  everywhere  it  was  rejected,  destroyed  or  sent 
back,  and  the  day  appointed  for  its  introduction  was 
kept  as  a  national  fast  and  mourning.  At  first  legal 
business  was  suspended.  The  court-houses  were 
shut  up.  Not  even  a  marriage  license  could  be  ob- 
tained. By-and-bye,  however,  the  offices  were  opened 
and  business  went  on  as  usual,  but  no  stamped  paper 
was  used.  A  new  and  most  powerful  society,  "  The 
Sons  of  Liberty,"  sprang  into  existence  at  this  time. 
The  merchants  of  the  principal  cities  entered  into  a 
compact  to  purchase  no  more  goods  of  Great  Britain 
until  the  Stamp  Act  was  repealed. 

All  these  portentous  events  were  reported  in 
detuil  by  the  first  mail-packet  to  the  home  govern- 
ment. They  made  a  profound  sensation.  The  col- 
onists had  many  and  staunch  friends  in  England. 
Eminent  statesmen  espoused  their  cause.  In  the 
House  of  Commons,  Mr.  Pitt,  almost  in  the  throes  of 
death,  delivered  a  most  powerful  address  on  the  rela- 
tion of  the  Mother-country  to  the  Colonies.  The  gov- 
ernment was  especially  and  fiercely  scathed  for  having 
sent  out  troops  to  force  by  bayonets  what  could  not 
be  obtained  by  good-will.  There  was  no  help  for  it ; 
the  Stamp  Act  had  to  be  formally  repealed !  It  was 
so  ordered  and  done  on  the  18th  of  March,  1766. 
A  resolution,  however,  was  added  to  this  that  Parlia- 
ment had  the  right  to  bind  the  Colonies  in  all  cases 
whatsoever. 

The  repeal  of  this  odious  Stamp  Act  produced 
great  joy  in  America  as  well  as  at  home.  A  few 
months  later  a  new  cabinet  was  formed  under  the 
leadership  of  Pitt.  The  poor  man,  however,  was 
now  too  sick  to  attend  to  any  state  business.  The 
King  had  not  the  courage  to  take  the  initiative  for 


494  BEN  BEOR. 

* 

any  new  measure  of  oppression.  So  I  was  selected 
to  influence  by  wile  and  guile  some  party  in  the 
ministry  of  coming  to  the  front.  Lord  Townshend, 
a  bold  and  ambitious  member  of  that  body,  was  too 
ready  to  bring  forward  a  new  scheme  for  taxing  the 
Americans.  On  the  29th  of  June,  1767,  another  act 
was  passed  imposing  a  duty  on  all  glass,  paper,  paint- 
ers' colors,  and  especially  Tea  imported  by  the  colo- 
nies. Its  text  was  as  follows  : — 

THE  TEA-TAX. 

"An  act  granting  certain  duties  in  the  British 
Colonies  and  Plantations  in  America ;  for  allowing 
a  drawback  to  the  duties  of  customs  upon  the  expor- 
tation from  the  kingdom  of  coffee  and  cocoanuts 
of  the  produce  of  the  said  Colonies  or  Plantations ; 
for  the  discontinuing  the  drawback  payable  on  china 
earthenware  exported  to  America;  and  for  more 
effectually  preventing  the  clandestine  running  of 
goods  in  the  said  Colonies  and  Plantations. 

"  Whereas,  it  is  expedient  that  a  revenue  should 
be  raised  in  your  Majesty's  dominions  in  America, 
for  making  a  more  certain  and  adequate  provision  for 
defraying  the  charge  of  the  administration  of  jus- 
tice and  the  supporting  civil  government  in  such 
provinces  where  it  shall  be  found  necessary;  and 
to  more  further  defraying  the  expenses  of  defending, 
protecting  and  securing  the  said  Colonies  :  We,  your 
Majesty's  dutiful  and  loyal  subjects,  the  Commons 
of  Great  Britain  in  Parliament  assembled,  have 
therefore  ordered  to  give  and  grant  unto  your 
Majesty  the  several  rates  and  duties  herein  men- 
tioned, and  do  most  humbly  beseech  your  Majesty 
that  it  may  be  enacted,  and  be  it  enacted  by  the 
King's  most  excellent  Majesty,  by  and  with  the 
advice  and  consent  of  the  Lords  spiritual  and 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  495 

temporal  and  Commons  in  this  present  Parliament 
assembled,  and  by  the  authority  of  the  same,  that 
from  and  after  the  twentieth  day  of  November,  1767, 
there  shall  be  raised,  levied,  collected  and  paid  unto 
his  Majesty,  his  heirs  and  successors,  for  and  upon 
the  respective  goods  hereinafter  mentioned,  which 
shall  be  imported  from  Great  Britain  unto  any 
Colony  or  Plantation  in  America  which  now  is  or 
hereafter  may  be  under  the  dominion  of  his  Majesty, 
his  heirs  or  successors,  the  several  rates  and  duties 
following,  that  is  to  say  : 

"For  every  pound  weight  avoirdupois  of  tea, 
three  pence." 

The  act  begins  by  taxing  glass,  red  lead,  white 
lead  and  painters'  colors;  then  comes  the  tax  on 
tea,  and  that  is  followed  by  a  tax  on  paper  of  all 
kinds ;  next  a  number  of  provisions  for  the  enforce- 
ment of  the  act  such  as  are  used  in  customs  acts. 

If  the  Stamp  Act  had  produced  a  storm,  this  meas- 
ure brought  forth  a  tornado  across  the  ocean.  An- 
other agreement  not  to  purchase  English  goods  was 
entered  into  by  the  Trans-Atlantic  merchants.  The 
newspapers  teemed  with  denunciations  against  Par- 
liament. Early  in  1768  the  Assembly  in  Massachu- 
setts adopted  a  circular  calling  upon  the  other  colonies 
for  assistance  in  the  effort  to  obtain  redress  of 
grievances.  In  the  month  of  June,  a  sloop  charged 
with  evading  payment  of  duty  was  seized  by  the  cus- 
tom-house officers  of  Boston.  Hereupon  the  people 
attacked  these  officers  and  obliged  them  to  flee  from 
their  houses  to  Castle  William  in  the  port  of  the  bay. 
Seven  hundred  troops  under  General  Gage,  brought 
from  Canada,  marched  into  the  rebellious  city. 
Criminations  and  recriminations  passed  now  every- 
where between  the  people  and  the  government 
officials. 

Parliament  now  tried  a  trick.    It  removed  all 


496  BEN  BEOR. 

taxes  except  on  tea,  and  lowered  the  price  of  this  to 
such  an  extent  as  to  hope  the  impost  would  readily  be 
paid.  But  the  Americans  looked  through  the  sham 
and  pledged  themselves  not  to  use  any  more  tea  until 
the  tax  should  be  removed.  This  happened  in  1773. 
Ships  were  loaded  with  tea  for  the  American  mar- 
ket. Some  of  these  reached  Charleston,  S.  C.,  but 
here  the  chests  were  stored  in  damp  cellars  and 
the  contents  ruined.  At  New  York  and  Philadel- 
phia the  vessels  were  not  permitted  to  enter  the  har- 
bors. At  Boston  the  authorities  would  not  allow  the 
tea  to  be  landed.  On  the  16th  of  December  there 
was  a  great  town-meeting  at  which  seven  thousand 
people  were  present.  Samuel  Adams  and  Josiah 
Quincy,  two  of  the  most  popular  orators,  spoke  to 
the  multitude.  Evening  came  and  the  meeting  was 
about  to  adjourn,  when  a  war-whoop,  as  the  Indians 
use,  was  heard,  and  fifty  men,  disguised  as  Mohawks, 
marched  to  the  wharf  where  the  ships  lay  at  anchor. 
The  vessels  were  boarded  by  these  masquer aders  and 
three  hundred  and  forty  chests  of  tea  were  emptied 
into  the  bay.  This  is  known  as  the  "Boston  Tea 
Party." 

The  crisis  had  come.  These  outrages  must  be 
suppressed.  These  rebels  must  be  punished ;  the 
supremacy  of  the  parliamentary  laws  maintained ; 
the  sovereign  power  of  the  home  government  firmly 
established,  or  the  colonial  possessions  of  Great 
Britain  must  be  given  up  as  lost.  The  tocsin  of 
war  is  already  in  the  air.  Now  or  never  is  the  time 
to  re-establish  the  supreme  sovereignty  of  the  King 
as  by  divine  right  at  home  and  abroad ! 

Section  III. —  Westward  Ho! 

While  private  secretary  to  Mr.  Pitt,  Perez  Men- 
des  had  become  fully  acquainted  with  the  turbulent 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  497 

affairs  which  then  prevailed  in  America.  A  great 
deal  of  correspondence  concerning  matters  there 
passed  through  his  hands.  He  had  grown  into  an 
enthusiastic  admirer  of  the  far-away  lands,  every- 
where described  as  boundless  and  beautiful,  and  in 
the  people  he  recognized  a  race  destined  to  play  a 
grand  and  noble  part  in  future  history.  The  disa- 
bilities under  which  the  still  prejudiced  Hebrews 
labored,  even  in  liberal  England,  caused  him  to 
determine  to  emigrate  across  the  ocean.  Since  his 
retirement  from  office  he  had  been  unable  to  find 
other  congenial  employment ;  and  when  now  every 
day  brought  news  of  the  mighty  rising  of  the  colo- 
nies, he,  with  prophetic  enthusiasm  kindled  by  the 
burning  eloquence  of  his  master  now  in  Parliament, 
foresaw  the  results  which  a  war  of  Great  Britain 
with  America  must  ultimately  bring.  He  declared 
to  me  repeatedly,  when  the  crisis  came  at  last,  that 
those  people  could  not  be  conquered ;  that,  fighting 
on  their  own  soil  for  their  homes  and  firesides,  they 
in  the  end  would  surely  throw  off  the  yoke  of  the 
mother-country  and  would  succeed  in  establishing 
their  independence  as  a  new  and  most  glorious 
nation.  At  this  juncture  there  came  to  him  by  the 
influence  of  his  admiring  Jewish  friends,  who  knew 
his  profound  theological  learning,  a  call  to  become 
Rabbi  of  a  good  and  wealthy  congregation  in  New 
York.  His  mind  was  made  up — he  would  go  !  To 
young,  beautiful,  romance-loving  Judith,  his  daugh- 
ter, the  prospective  journey  on  the  ocean  and  a  home 
in  the  new  world,  where  honors  and  distinction 
awaited  her  fondly-loved  father,  was  like  the  fulfill- 
ment of  a  dream  in  fairyland.  By  kindness  of  the 
again-powerful  Mr.  Pitt,  passage  was  secured  for 
them  on  the  Challenger,  one  of  the  best  and  most 
commodious  men-of-war  of  the  British  navy.  So  all 
was  gotten  ready  and  prepared  for  their  early  depar- 


498  BEN  BEOR. 

ture.  This  was  settled  to  take  place  about  the 
beginning  of  April,  1776.  Meanwhile  I  became 
impressed  with  the  thought  also  that  my  presence  in 
the  turbulent  states  might  become  of  great  usefulness 
to  the  government ;  that  from  observations  made  on 
the  spot  I  might  be  instrumental  in  foiling  the  suc- 
cess of  the  audacious  rebels,  and  with  the  touch  of 
my  tyrannous  hand  throttle  the  young,  contumacious 
liberty.  Lie  to  myself  as  I  would,  deep  down  in  the 
recesses  of  my  heart  there  were  other  motives  which 
bore  this  irresistible  anxiety  for  accompanying  my 
new-found  friends  to  America.  An  inexplicable 
attachment  drew  me  into  hitherto  unknown  sympa- 
thy to  this  grand,  noble  Jew  ;  and  the  pure,  unselfish 
feeling,  such  as  had  been  a  stranger  to  my  mind  in 
the  long  career  of  my  blasted  wanderings,  for  his 
daughter  had  taken  possession  of  my  very  nature. 
I  could  not  bear  to  be  separated  from  them.  And 
yet,  what  a  contrast  there  was  between  the  character 
of  these  people  and  mine !  They,  all  goodness, 
humanity,  loveliness,  piety  and  resignation  in  the 
will  of  Almighty  God ;  I,  all  malignity,  hatred,  gross 
desires,  panting  for  doing  mischief,  wrong  and  crime. 
They,  completely  happy  as  far  as  man  can  be,  ever 
hopeful,  ever  content,  overflowing  with  human  kind- 
ness and  love ;  I,  the  most  miserable  wretch,  despair- 
ing, restless,  cruel  and  forever  cursing  and  cursed. 
Is  it  not  perhaps  this  very  opposition  in  our  nature 
that  draws  me  now  so  feverishly  longing  to  them  ? 
When  I  broached  the  plan  to  my  employer,  of  going 
to  America  in  the  secret  service  of  the  government, 
he  approved  of  it  at  once  and  with  very  great  avidity. 
In  the  light  which  I  presented  my  scheme  and  works 
he  readily  saw  what  great  importance  a  man  might 
prove  who,  situated  as  I  would  be,  could  operate 
in  the  dark,  without  being  suspected,  for  the  interests 
of  the  home-government.  So  every  facility  was 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  499 

given  me  to  be  ready  for  departure  when  the  Challen- 
ger would  sail.  There  was  great  and  hearty  re- 
joicing when  my  friends  learned  I  was  to  be  their 
company  for  the  sea-voyage.  Although  it  came 
quite  unexpected  and  as  a  surprise,  they  had  grown 
to  me  also  attached  and  were  really  glad  that  we  were 
not  to  be  separated.  Never  suspecting,  even  in  the 
remotest  degree,  my  real  motives,  the  plausible  ex- 
planations which  I  gave  for  my  journey  with  them 
were  all  satisfactory.  A  month  at  least  must  tran- 
spire before  the  ship  could  be  made  ready  for  her 
errand ;  so  we  each  had  sufficient  time  to  attend  to 
our  preparatory  business. 

Section  IV. — A  Great  Conclave. 

Messengers  were  at  once  dispatched  by  me  to 
every  part  of  Europe  for  the  immediate  assembling 
in  London  of  my  chief  agents  and  subordinates. 
Within  a  few  days  before  I  sailed  they  were  all  pres- 
ent at  the  appointed  hour  and  place. 

In  one  of  the  suburbs  of  London,  distant  from 
any  frequented  road,  hidden  away  amidst  bush  and 
heather,  there  stood  an  old  abbey,  fallen  into  decay 
and  covered  with  moss  and  lichens.  At  the  be- 
ginning of  the  Reformation  it  had  been  confiscated 
by  the  government.  The  Dominican  brotherhood 
was  dispersed,  and  the  place  which  heretofore  rang 
with  the  bells  for  prayer  and  trodden  by  the  pious 
but  ever-scheming  monks,  was  used  now  for  the 
storage  of  plunder  of  all  sorts.  At  first  a  keeper 
was  lodged  here,  but  when  the  place  became  unin- 
habitable the  authorities  did  not  care  to  pay  out  any 
funds  for  repair.  The  ruins,  very  picturesque  in 
outside  appearance,  offered  no  longer  shelter  from 
rain  and  sun  and  were  entirely  abandoned.  The 
last  keeper  died  unattended  and  alone,  and  his  body 


500  BEN  BEOR. 

was  found  several  days  after  his  demise.  A  huge 
rusty  lock  was  placed  at  the  gate,  and  as  the  cloister 
stood  in  very  bad  repute  of  being  haunted,  110  one 
cared  even  in  daytime,  much  less  in  the  night,  to 
invade  the  gloomy  premises.  In  my  regular  daily 
wanderings  I  had  some  time  before  strayed  into  this 
neighborhood.  Curious  to  take  a  look  at  the  inside 
of  the  cloister,  I  found  no  difficulty  in  removing  the 
lock,  entering  after  a  troublesome  passage  through 
the  brambles  and  briars  into  the  interior.  It  was  a 
veritable  home  for  bats  and  owls,  who  had  chosen 
the  lulls  and  dormitories  for  colonies  of  their  nests. 
On  reaching  the  chapel,  in  spite  of  the  chaotic  debris 
which  had  accumulated  here  and  the  almost  un- 
bearable musty  odor  that  prevailed,  I  tarried  and  com- 
menced, through  sheer  whim  of  idleness,  to  sound  the 
floor  by  pounding  with  my  heavy  cane  at  such  places 
as  I  knew  from  former  experiences  with  the  habits 
of  the  monlis  might  reveal  the  whereabouts  of  the 
entrance  to  some  subterranean  chamber.  Nor  was  I 
mistaken  in  this  iny  surmise.  I  had  reached  the 
spot  where  formerly  steps  must  have  led  to  the  altar. 
Here  I  was  rewarded  by  hearing  the  peculiar  hollow 
sound  which  revealed  that  there  was  a  trapdoor. 
Marking  the  place  carefully,  I  returned  next  day 
with  the  necessary  tools  and  commenced  the  difficult 
labor  of  prying  open  the  heavy  oaken  covering  which, 
even  after  these  many  years  of  decay  and  ruin, 
proved  as  sound  and  firm  as  on  the  day  when  it  was 
laid.  At  last  my  efforts  succeeded.  The  trapdoor 
was  removed  and  the  opening  revealed  broad  stairs 
of  stone  leading  downwards  as  if  into  the  very  bowels 
of  ihe  earth.  A  rush  of  damp  air  came  up  from  the 
darkness.  Being  without  torch  or  light,  I  deemed 
it  best  to  return  next  day  provided  with  these; 
meanwhile  allowing  the  hidden  recesses  to  purify 
through  the  now  uncovered  orifice.  Next  day  I 


HISTORICAL   PHANTASMAGORIA.  501 

continued  my  ghostly  exploration.  To  my  surprise, 
I  found  immense,  well-preserved  chambers  rudely 
furnished.  The  floors  were  covered  with  dry  white 
sand.  Implements  of  all  kinds  lay  strewn  around 
promiscuously.  A  smelting  oven,  standing  in  the 
center  of  the  great  hall,  revealed  to  me  the  fact  that 
not  too  long  since  the  place  must  have  been  used  as 
the  abode  of  counterfeiters  or  highwaymen.  A  huge 
ingot  of  gold  stood  in  the  furnace,  while  all  kinds  of 
treasures,  costly  curiosities,  pearls,  rubies  and  dia- 
monds lay  in  little  heaps  on  the  long  table  as  if  ready 
for  distribution.  The  place  looked  like  a  scene 
where  a  fierce  combat  had  taken  place.  The  floor 
was  literally  covered  with  human  skeletons  in  all 
positions  and  attitudes.  The  rats,  which  swarmed 
here  in  droves,  had  gnawed  the  bodies  to  the  very 
bones,  which  lay  there  bleached,  white  by  age  and 
corruption.  Arms  and  weapons  of  all  kinds  were 
intermingled  with  the  bodies.  It  was  the  most 
ghastly  sight  imaginable.  I  soon  had  the  priceless 
treasures  safely  stored  away  in  the  strong  box  of  my 
residence.  Then  I  collected  the  weapons  and  piled 
them  up  in  one  of  the  many  cells  surrounding  the 
main  hall.  Next  I  dug  a  pit  for  the  entire  mass 
of  the  mouldered  remains.  Without  any  special 
reason  at  the  time,  I  spent  all  my  leisure  hours  in 
setting  the  extensive  subterranean  vault  in  order, 
clearing  and  cleaning  away  the  dense  cobwebs  and 
accumulated  dust.  Now,  however,  I  found  it  fortu- 
nate that  I  had  taken  all  this  trouble.  It  was  the 
place — and  a  more  appropriate  one  could  not  be 
found  in  the  world — appointed  by  me  for  the  meet- 
ing of  the  Anti-Messiah's  Conclave. 

At  midnight  from  the  3d  to  the  4th  of  April  had 
been  set  aside  for  the  auspicious  event.  I  had  placed 
myself  inside  the  dilapidated  lodge,  keeping  watch 
at  the  wicket,  from  whence  I  could  spy  over  the  dis- 


502  BEN  BEOR. 

tance  without  being  seen  myself.  Presently  a  torch- 
light was  beheld  emerging  from  far  away.  As  it  came 
nearer  it  revealed  a  muffled  and  hooded  figure — the 
face  masked,  showing  nothing  but  the  eyes  and  the 
mouth.  "Who  goes  there?"  I  accosted  the  comer. 
He  leaned  forward  and  whispered  in  my  ear  :  "  The 
Despot."  I  admitted  him  and  showed  the  way  to 
the  vault.  I  brought  him  back,  however,  to  act  now 
as  a  guide  to  the  other  comers.  These  emerged  out 
of  the  dark,  all  attired  as  the  first  and  in  the  follow- 
ing order :  Priestcraft,  Ignorance,  Superstition, 
Lechery,  Drunkenness,  Barbarity,  Jew-hater,  Lie, 
Avarice,  Corruption,  Malice,Blasphemy,  and  Seducer. 
These  fourteen  were  my  head  agents.  Then  came  a 
host  of  petty  helpers  and  assistants.  As  the  clock 
struck  one  all  were  in  their  seats.  I,  their  master, 
presided  over  the  conclave  and  now  addressed  them 
as  follows : — 

^Companions,  Masters  and  Fellow-crafts  : — You 
were  called  here  together  to  receive,  before  my  neces- 
sary departure  from  the  continent,  such  instructions 
for  upholding,  propagating  and  fostering  the  cause 
of  evil,  by  which  alone  now  the  supremacy  of  the 
Throne  and  Church  may  be  restored  and  maintained 
in  their  pristine  powers.  We  have  lost  ground  to 
fearful  extent  by  the  Reformation,  the  progress  of 
the  people  in  science,  art  and  education.  Perhaps 
our  greatest  enemy  has  been  the  printing-press,  with 
its  accursed  multiplication  of  books,  magazines  and 
newspapers.  Great  as  our  late  discomfitures  have 
been  all  over  Europe,  still  more  immense  dangers 
loom  up  across  the  ocean,  where  the  American  people 
have  risen  in  revolt  and  threaten  to  establish  a  free 
republic,  separating  State  and  Church  and  maintain- 
ing eternal  liberty  by  the  power  of  self-government. 
To  foil  this  result  my  immediate  presence  is  abso- 
lutely necessary  in  that  accursed  country.  Receive 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  503 

therefore  your  commissions,  which  must  guide  and 
direct  you  during  my  necessary  absence.  Foremost 
of  all,  act  together  as  a  phalanx  in  your  individual 
and  collective  aims  and  works.  Keep  united  against 
the  people.  They  are  always  separated  in  their  best 
interest.  Disunion  among  them  is  our  everlasting 
strength.  Never  despair  on  account  of  momentary 
failure.  If  foiled,  start  with  new  courage  and  rise 
again.  And  now  receive  each  one  your  separate  and 
distinct  charge.  Stand  up  as  called.  Despot  and 
Priestcraft — for  you,  my  head  chiefs,  are  one  in  object 
and  purpose — I  appoint  you  here  my  vicegerents 
over  the  Eastern  world  while  I  shall  be  away  in  the 
West.  Become  as  one  soul  and  one  body.  Strain 
every  nerve  to  maintain  supremacy  of  absolute 
power.  Let  neither  blood,  tears  nor  death  daunt 
you.  Avoid  concessions,  rights  and  privileges. 
Where  you  must  give  way  to  rights  and  privileges, 
where  you  must  concede  these  temporarily,  use  craft, 
wile  and  machination  to  annul  what  you  have 
granted.  Every  other  of  you,  my  associates  and 
friends,  at  all  times  and  under  all  circumstances 
lend  your  services  readily  and  eagerly  to  these 
your  masters.  Especially,  thou  noble  companion 
of  my  trust,  Ignorance,  rise  and  hear  thy  task: 
Fight  inch  by  inch  every  encroachment  upon  thy 
realm.  Grapple  with  education  and  learning  among 
the  masses.  Combat  Reading,  Writing  and  Arith- 
metic. Enlightenment  is  our  worst  foe.  The  more 
stupid  and  illiterate  the  nations,  the  easier  they  are 
held  in  subjugation.  Stand  forth,  Superstition, 
darling  pet  of  my  ambition  !  Waft  thy  ghostly  hand 
from  hut  to  palace.  Spread  thy  wings  over  the 
minds.  Draw  everywhere  the  shades  of  night. 
Shackle  men  from  the  cradle  to  the  grave.  Next, 
thou  pale  and  emaciated  Lechery,  come  on !  Hold 
steadfast  in  thy  grasp  the  easily  aroused  carnal 


504  BEN  BEOR. 

passion  of  our  foes.  Truckle  to  their  vile  sins 
and  desires.  Excite  their  gross  imaginations.  As 
long  as  they  shall  serve  thee,  every  danger  for 
their  rising,  their  advancement,  their  progress  is 
at  abeyance.  Next,  thou  foremost  of  my  allies, 
Drunkenness,  approach!  Thy  power  is  gigantic, 
thy  realm  the  universe.  Of  all  my  efficient  subordi- 
nates thou  hast  been  the  most  faithful,  pliant  and 
successful.  Continue  thy  work  of  debasing  and 
ruining  the  races.  Insinuate  thyself  more  and  more, 
wider  and  wider  into  all  ranks,  conditions  and  posi- 
tions. As  long  as  thy  maddening  spell  holds  pos- 
session over  thy  maudlin  victims,  our  reign  is  yet 
secure !  The  intoxicating  cup  is  the  prop  of  Tyranny 
and  Fanaticism.  Thou,  poor,  misshapen  Barbarity, 
come  forth!  Although  thy  brow  is  low,  thy  lips 
are  thick,  thy  hands  are  coarse  and  thy  head  and 
body  vulgar  and  mean  in  appearance,  yet  art  thou 
one  of  my  chief  powers.  They  have  pressed  thee 
hardest  of  all  my  friends,  have  wrestled  more  tena- 
ciously with  thy  power  than  any  others.  Thy  losses 
everywhere  have  been  great  and  extensive.  Yet 
stand  up  courageously  for  thy  hold  on  the  power 
left.  Fight  them  yet  wherever  a  chance  offers. 
Burn,  tear,  crunch,  pierce,  bite,  pound,  murder 
everything  and  anything  where  thou  mayest,  so  as  to 
regain  as  much  as  possible  of  thy  lost  vantage- 
ground.  Ah,  but  now  rise,  my  ever  faithful,  ever 
wary,  ever  zealous  friend  and  right-handed  ally, 
glorious,  successful  Jew-hater!  Though  in  disguise 
like  the  rest  of  thy  comrades,  I  recognize  in  thee  a 
brave,  bold  champion.  Proceed  in  thy  work.  Never 
let  up  against  that  thrice-hated  Semitic  tribe.  They 
and  their  accursed  Torah  are  at  the  bottom  of  all 
our  troubles.  Wherever  thou  mayest,  smite  them 
hip  and  thigh.  As  one  sham  accusation  against  them 
goes  down,  revive  another.  Never  mind  the  falsity 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  505 

of  the  malicious  charges.  Keep  on  to  make  the 
people  hate,  despise  and  persecute  them  with  the  mean 
pretences  of  their  usury,  greediness  and  avarice. 
Let  them  be  cursed  as  Christ-killers.  Malign  them 
with  the  Blood-accusation,  the  poisoning  of  the  wells. 
As  foolish  and  wicked  as  these  are,  they  never  fail 
to  find  credence  with  the  ignorant  masses.  These 
Hebrews  are  in  our  way  for  their  unfaltering  mono- 
theism, their  unswerving  morals,  their  love  of  free- 
dom, their  superior  minis,  the  frugality,  perseverance 
and  industry  of  their  men,  by  which  they  are  successful 
everywhere;  the  chastity,  domestic  virtues  and 
fidelity  of  their  women,  all  of  which  preserves  and 
perpetuates  the  race  in  spite  of  what  I,  the  Anti- 
Messiah,  have  attempted  for  their  annihilation.  Thy 
brother,  Lie,  will  valiantly  help  thee.  Come  forth, 
thou  brave  champion  of  error  and  falsehood  !  Thy 
swift  feet  travel  a  mile  before  thy  antagonist,  Truth, 
even  starts  for  a  journey.  Continue  to  falsify  his- 
tory, records  and  men.  Instill  thy  wanton  errors 
in  philosophy,  science  and  art.  Lie  about  God, 
lie  about  men,  lie  against  virtue,  patriotism,  and 
lie  about  truth!  In  this  let  your  twin-brothers, 
Avarice,  Corruption,  Malice  and  Blasphemy,  stand 
chivalrously  by  thy  side.  Never  swerve,  never  falter 
to  the  utmost  for  tearing  down  Right,  Justice, 
Honor  and  Enlightenment.  And  ye,  the  host  of 
Vice  and  Degradation,  Gambling,  Traducer,  Malign 
Blackmailer,  Glutton!  all  powers  of  evil  and  hell, 
keep  together,  aiding  and  abetting  one  another  in 
your  machinations  and  intrigues  to  force  under  the 
onward  procession  of  Progress  and  Civilization. 
Give  a  good  report  of  yourselves  while  I  am  away, 
that  I  may  bless  the  day  when  I  met  you  here  for 
the  last  time.  And  now  that  the  morning  hour  is 
dawning,  farewell !  Depart  to  your  different  stations 


506  BEN  BEOR. 

and  abodes  as  silently  as  you  came.     My  best  hopes 
for  success  be  with  you  !  " 

The  assembly  dispersed  as  stealthily  and  noise- 
lessly as  it  had  been  ushered  in.  At  noon  next  day, 
the  5th  of  April,  I  was  on  board  of  the  man-of-war 
Challenger.  My  friends,  Rabbi  Perez  Mendes  and 
his  lovely  daughter  Judith,  had  already  arrived  there 
before  me. 

Section  V. —  The  Phantom  of  the  Sea. 

We  were  now  three  days  at  sea.  The  weather 
proved  auspicious ;  the  ocean  was  like  a  plate  of 
glass,  and  the  good  craft,  strong  and  buoyant,  made 
great  sailing  headway.  Myself  and  Rabbi  Mendes 
had  experienced  no  inconvenience  thus  far  on  our 
journey,  and  spent  most  of  our  time  on  the  top  deck. 
Judith  suffered  for  the  first  few  days  with  the  ill- 
ness usually  affecting  travellers  on  the  briny  deep. 
During  this  time  she  kept  her  room  and  bed,  cared 
for  faithfully  by  the  nurse  belonging- to  the  ship. 

Our  conversation  was  earnest  and  engrossing. 
That  man  held  me  spellbound  with  the  intensity  of 
his  convictions  and  the  power  of  his  broad,  irresist- 
ible logic,  to  me  a  new  philosophical  theology.  An- 
cient and  modern  learning  were  at  his  command,  and 
my  sophistry  and  flimsy  pretences  tore  like  cobwebs 
under  his  clear-cut  reasoning  and  incontrovertible 
arguments.  These  he  interspersed  with  a  most  en- 
rapturing fund  of  legendary  lore  from  the  Hebrew 
writers,  among  which  the  wonderful  traditions  con- 
cerning the  prophet  Elijah  fascinated  me  with  their 
great  interest.  To  Mendes  an  eternal  and  absolute 
separation  of  Church  and  State  was  the  only  solu- 
tion of  the  problem  for  the  enfranchisement  of  civil- 
ized humanity.  God  himself  had  demonstrated 
years  ago  this  truth  by  the  dissolution  of  the  nation- 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  507 

ality  of  the  Jews,  leaving  to  them  the  maintenance 
and  fostering  of  the  Law  in  the  ages  of  their  exile. 
For  this  purpose  visibly  had  they  been  spared  and 
preserved  by  Providence  under  the  most  excruciating 
trials  and  persecutions.  Their  supreme  mission  was 
making  the  knowledge  of  One  God  universal,  in 
opposition  to  the  towering  obstacles  from  within  and 
without  their  spheres.  The  moral  code  emanating 
from  this  chief  axiom,  as  taught  by  Moses  and  the 
Prophets,  was  simply  the  sequence  of  that  know- 
ledge. The  extensive  systems  of  ceremonial  in 
which  the  Orient  had  wrapped  the  truth  are  inessen- 
tials only,  and  one  after  another  most  likely  would 
fall  when  absolutely  untimely  and  impracticable, 
especially  in  the  new  land  of  America.  This,  how- 
ever, will  prove  no  injury  or  obstruction  to  the  great 
final  goal.  Those  who  had  formerly  maltreated  and 
hunted  down  the  Hebrew  people  would  at  no  very 
distant  time  be  the  foremost  to  take  them  friendly  by 
the  hand  and  become  chief  aiders  for  the  promulga- 
tion of  Monotheism  as  expounded  in  the  Torah. 
Was  it  the  truth,  or  the  peculiar  sympathetic  manner 
in  which  it  was  delivered,  or  both,  which  fastened 
their  hold  so  strangely  upon  me?  I  could  not  resist 
listening,  perfectly  overcome  in  my  previous  convic- 
tions and  directly  contrary  views.  Often  I  felt  my 
murderous  instincts  rise  in  all  their  vicious  strength 
within  me,  propelling  me  to  grasp  the  terribly  earnest 
man  and  hurl  him  headlong  overboard  into  the 
ocean.  Why  did  I  not  do  it  ?  Why  did  I  not  make 
an  end  of  words  that  pierced  me  to  the  very  heart, 
lacerating  my  soul,  my  feelings,  the  very  essence 
of  my  being  ?  Several  times  I  was  at  the  decisive 
point,  but  my  arms  fell  like  palsied,  my  will  as  if 
shattered  by  an  invisible,  an  incomprehensible  power. 
It  was  on  the  thirtieth  evening,  at  a  point  when  I  felt 
as  if  I  could  break  through  all  trammels  which  thus 


508  BEN  BEOR. 

far  had  prevented  my  fiendish  design — I  had  actu- 
ally risen  and  made  ready  to  spring  with  one  fell 
effort  upon  my  unsuspecting  victim — when  Judith 
appeared  before  us,  holding  a  scrap  of  paper  in  her 
hand,  and  like  an  etherealized  being  stood  there, 
exclaiming  :  "  Darling  father,  let  me  read  these  few 
lines  to  you ;  they  have  come  to  me  like  an  inspira- 
tion. I  know  you  both  will  smile  at  the  childish 
verses."  Then  she  began  reading,  as  he  and  I  had 
approvingly  nodded  willing  assent : 

THE  ORIGIN  OF  THE  DIAMOND. 

AN  ORIENTAL  LEGEND. 

Listen  to  the  curious  story, 
How  the  diamond  in  its  glory 
Grew  amidst  the  giant  blocks 
In  the  strata  of  the  rocks  : 
How  the  precious  stone  was  wrought 
From  a  spark  of  light  and  thought ; 
Love-light  shining  on  this  earth, 
In  a  tear  the  gem  had  birth. 
Thought  to  love  and  light  obedient 
Its  most  pure  and  prized  ingredient. 
As  from  presence  of  the  Lord, 
Satan  and  his  rebel  horde 
By  ambition  wild  and  fell, 
Hurled  were  into  deepest  hell — 
Doomed  to  fire,  fear  and  pain, 
Without  sunshine,  light  or  rain — 
Mercy,  the  bright  angel,  crept 
To  the  throne  of  God  and  wept 
A  hot  tear,  in  deep  prostration 
E'en  for  Hades'  re-salvation. 
As  an  emblem  it  was  wrought 
To  proclaim  sublimest  thought : 
God  will,  says  the  precious  stone, 
Every  sin  at  last  atone. 
Crystalized,  proclaims  the  tear 
Final  quench  of  fire  and  fear  : 
Heaven's  promise,  Mercy's  token, 
Are,  like  diamonds,  never  broken. 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  509 

She  recited  the  lines  with  such  simplicity  and  yet 
with  such  deep-felt  pathos,  that  when  she  ended,  her 
father  rapturously  hugged  her  to  his  breast,  and 
amidst  a  shower  of  kisses  led  her  back  to  the  state- 
room. I  was  wonderfully  and  deeply  moved.  These 
words  from  the  lips  of  a  child  struck  a  chord  in  my 
breast  to  which  I  had  been  a  stranger  beyond  my 
memory.  Like  one  dazed  I  walked  the  deck — it 
must  have  been  for  hours — repeating  the  refrain : 

"  Heaven's  promise,  Mercy's  token, 
Are,  like  diamonds,  never  broken." 

I  was  awakened  from  the  trance-like  state  by  the 
ship's  bell  striking  midnight.  This  sounded  to  me 
like  the  tolling  for  a  funeral.  The  muffled  footsteps 
of  the  guards  below,  walking  to  and  fro,  completed 
the  delusion.  I  stood  up  here  alone,  viewing  the 
wide  expanse  of  the  ocean,  with  its  heaving  and 
regular  swell  coming  and  going.  Myriads  of  stars 
twinkled  in  the  sky  and  were  reflected  like  glittering 
crystals  by  the  sea.  At  the  centre  of  this  grand 
picture  now  became  visible  a  fleck  of  light  of  most 
beautiful  color.  Having  attracted  my  attention,  I 
watched  its  gradual  growth.  This  soon  assumed  the 
shape  of  a  ring,  and  then  expanded  and  increased 
until  at  last  there  stood  before  me  an  immense  ball 
of  blood-tinted  fire.  The  moon  in  all  her  majesty, 
as  she  only  can  be  seen  on  the  ocean  in  a  clear 
night,  came  nearer  and  nearer  until  she  stood  right 
over  the  ship  above  my  head.  She  lit  up  the  heavens 
and  the  water  with  that  peculiar  pale  and  roseate 
tint  which  transforms  darkness  into  semi-day.  I 
was  disturbed  in  my  reverie  by  the  sudden  appear- 
ance in  mid-air  of  a  gigantic  person  whom  I  in- 
stantly recognized  as  the  prophet  Elijah — identically 
the  same  in  form  and  features  as  the  one  who  had 
hurled  me  thousands  of  years  ago  from  the  Levannah 


510  BEN  BEOR. 

back  to  earth.  His  aspect,  then  full  of  fierce  wrath, 
now  was  mild  and  gracious.  Nor  was  he  alone.  On 
his  right  rested,  confiding  and  affectionate,  a  diminu- 
tive figure,  unmistakably  hunchbacked.  This  second 
person's  face  was  characteristically  Semitic  and  made 
conspicuous  by  short,  pointed  chin-whiskers.  He 
held  in  his  right  hand  an  open  folio,  in  which  flamed 
in  letters  of  gold  the  words  "  Mendelsohn's  German 
Translation  of  the  Bible."  On  the  left  side  of  the 
ancient  seer  stood  another,  a  poet-like,  imposing 
figure.  His  countenance  could  not  be  mistaken ;  it 
was  expressively  Teutonic.  He,  too,  held  in  his  right 
hand  an  open  book,  in  which  the  title-inscription 
formed  a  flambeau  of  light.  It  read :  "  Lessing's 
Nathan  the  Wise."  Nearer  and  nearer  they  ap- 
proached until  in  hailing  distance.  Suddenly  I  saw 
the  prophet  by  my  side ;  then  he  spoke  : — "  Balaam 
ben  Beor,  the  end  of  thy  malediction  is  at  hand. 
Soon  thou  wilt  be  permitted  again  to  die.  As  in 
time  of  yore  thou  hast  been  called  upon  to  curse 
but  by  Divine  power  wast  forced  to  bless,  so  shall 
thy  blasting  career  end  when  thy  feet  tread  the  holy 
ground  of  new -rising  Freedom.  What  was  begotten 
by  malediction  shall  be  finished  in  benisons.  De- 
part in  peace ! "  I  stared  intently  on  him  ;  my 
breath  came  panting  and  heavy.  At  last  I  broke 
forth  as  one  in  the  agony  of  despair  and  asked : 
"  What  of  the  blighting  agencies  I  left  to  work 
abroad  ?  "  He  slowly  and  deliberately  answered  : 
"  Leave  their  destinies  in  the  hands  of  Him  who  sent 
me!  In  God's  good  time,  when  the  measure  of  sin 
and  crimes  shall  be  full,  mankind  shall  see  final  re- 
demption by  Heaven's  grace,  in  the  universal  reign 
of  Enlightenment,  Liberty  and  Humanity.  Depart 
in  peace — depart  in  peace ! "  Then  the  trio  of  this 
supernatural  night-vision  rose  upward,  higher  and 
higher,  until  they  reached  again  the  precincts  of  the 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  511 

moon.  During  all  the  time  the  air  was  full  of  celes- 
tial music.  Over  and  over  again  came  back  to  my 
obtuse  hearing  the  refrain,  as  if  echoed  from  above : 

"  Crystalized,  proclaims  the  tear 
Final  quench  of  fire  and  fear  : 
Heaven's  promise,  Mercy's  token, 
Are,  like  diamonds,  never  broken." 

At  daylight  the  guards  found  me  lying  near  the 
mainmast  prostrated  and  unconscious.  They  carried 
me  carefully. to  my  room,  and  informed  my  friends 
of  the  strange  disaster  which  had  befallen  me.  Rabbi 
Mendes  came  at  once,  and  Judith  followed  soon. 
They  were  dumbfounded  at  my  changed  appear- 
ance— so  wan,  haggard  and  weak.  The  ship's  doc- 
tor, after  working  over  me  for  a  long  time,  at  last 
brought  me  back  to  a  state  of  consciousness.  I 
could  recognize  persons  and  things  around  me,  and 
with  great  exertion  speak  a  few  words.  Every- 
body was  assiduously  attentive  in  ministering  to  my 
wants  and  comfort,  but  no  one  more  so  than  Judith. 
She  was  tireless  in  her  never-ceasing  efforts  for  my 
relief  and  help,  and  her  sweet,  womanly  ways  accom- 
plished everything  without  obtrusion  or  bustle.  As 
her  soothing  hands  passed  me  the  medicaments,  dried 
my  perspiring  brow  and  smoothed  the  pillows,  she 
stood  over  me  like  a  guardian  angel,  then  in  my 
half  dazed  state  there  came  back  to  me  the  piercing 
recollection  of  the  cruel  wrongs  which  I  had  heaped 
upon  her  race  and  the  vile  crime  which  I  came  so 
near  perpetrating  against  her  only  protector — my 
friend  and  help  in  this  hour  of  need — her  father. 
Then  the  tears  would  involuntarily  well  up  to  my 
now  dimmed  eyes ;  and  she — she  would  dry  them, 
speaking  comfort  and  consolation,  as  if  sent  to  me 
from  Above  like  a  messenger  of  peace.  So  day  after 
day  rolled  away.  I  grew  a  little  stronger,  and  one 


512  BEN  BEOR. 

evening,  when  the  ocean  atmosphere  was  bracing 
and  exhilarating,  I  was  carried  on  deck,  having  my 
emaciated  form  propped  with  soft  cushions  and  sup- 
porting pillows.  As  I  was  laid  down  on  one  of  the 
lounges,  the  captain  came  and  spoke  a  few  sympa- 
thetic words,  and  ordered  the  mariners  and  soldiers 
to  a  distance,  that  nothing  should  disturb  my  quiet. 
Rabbi  Mendes  and  Judith  were  by  my  side.  It  was 
a  glorious  evening ;  the  sun  was  just  setting  with  in- 
describable sublimity  in  the  western  horizon,  cloth- 
ing sky  and  water  with  a  halo  of  rainbow  colors. 
Now  the  maiden  held  one  of  my  hands  in  her  own. 
By  an  instinctive  impulse  I  begged  her  to  sing  to 
me.  She  complied  with  smiling  readiness,  and  soon 
the  silver-clear  tones  of  her  fine  voice  rang  over  the 
ship.  It  was  a  simple  melody  to  the  words  of  her 
own  poem : 

"  God  will,  says  the  precious  stone, 
Every  sin  at  last  atone." 

As  the  final  words  came  like  a  zephyr's  breath  from 
her  lips,  the  watchman  placed  on  top  of  the  main- 
mast shouted  out  "  Land  ahoy ! ;;  All  this  acted  like 
a  charm  upon  me.  I  rose  from  my  couch — I  could 
stand  upright — and  firmly  walked  a  few  steps  for- 
ward. Then,  to  the  astonishment  of  my  friends, 
whom  I  now  faced  like  one  inspired,  I  exclaimed,  in 
loud  but  tremulous  tones  :  "  Now  is  the  mystery  of 
strange  words  explained.  Now  do  I  understand  the 
last  and  mystic  sentence  of  Scripture,  heretofore 
a  sealed  secret  to  the  human  mind.  All  of  it  is 
light  and  life  in  that  portentous  prophecy — the  last 
of  Holy  Writ — fulfilled  by  my  career  and  long  and 
terrible  experiences.  It  is  the  promise  of  God,  say- 
ing :  '  Behold,  I  will  send  to  you  the  prophet  Elijah, 
before  the  great  and  awful  day  of  the  Lord  cometh. 
And  he  will  turn  the  hearts  of  the  fathers  to  their,  child- 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  513 

mi,  and  the  hearts  of  the  children  to  their  fathers  !' 
The  reign  of  Tyranny  shall  soon  be  ended ;  the 
sway  of  Intolerance  must  cease.  The  Kingdom  of 
God  is  at  hand  !  No  mortal  power  dare  gainsay  it. 

Pen  owo  w'hikysi  es  ho-orez  cherem. 

Din  PKPI  HK  wnm  NIIM*  ja 

LEST   I   COME   AND  SMITE  THE   EARTH    WITH   A 

CUKSE  !"  — (Malachi  iii.  24.) 

All  on  board  of  our  ship  now  became  bustle  and 
excitement.  The  captain  and  officers  shouted  orders 
to  the  mariners  and  soldiers.  Everything  was  made 
ready  for  landing.  The  sailors  were  busy  arranging 
the  multifarious  rigging.  A  squad  of  them  were 
eagerly  engaged  preparing  to  lower  the  anchors  by 
means  of  working  the  capstan.  The  peculiar  and 
characteristic  "  hoi-ho,"  half  song,  half  shout,  came 
from  every  quarter  of  the  boat.  Soon  we  landed  in 
Delaware  Bay  in  sight  of  Cape  May.  The  captain's 
gig  brought  us  without  much  delay  to  terra-firma. 
Although  the  country  before  us  was  in  the  hands  of 
our  Federal  foes,  thanks  to  the  passports  which  the 
American  representative  in  England  kindly  had  pro- 
vided for  our  party,  we  were  permitted  to  land  with- 
out molestation. 

Section  VI. — The  Declaration  of  Independeiice. 

Desirous  of  proceeding  immediately  to  our  destina- 
tion, which  for  me  was  the  old  Quaker  city  of  Phila- 
delphia, a  government  conveyance  was  placed  at  our 
disposal.  No  other  could  have  been  procured  for 
love  or  money,  as  every  sailboat,  cutter  or  schooner 
that  plied  the  waters  of  the  bay  QT  river  was  im- 
pressed in  the  service  of  the  rebel  army.  Official 
despatches  having  arrived  from  England  by  the  man- 
of-war  which  brought  us  over,  a  special  and  swift 


514  BEN  BEOR. 

cutter  was  to  proceed  early  next  morning  to  the 
headquarters  of  the  yet  provisional  government.  So, 
after  a  good  night's  rest,  we  were  on  board  at  day- 
break. The  morning  was  grandly  beautiful,  and 
we  bowled  along  leisurely  with  a  favorable  wind. 
It  was  early  on  the  3d  of  July  when  we  started.  I 
stood  the  journey  wonderfully  well,  feeling  rejuve- 
nated by  the  balmy  land  breezes  and  the  beautiful 
scenery  which  surrounds  on  all  sides  the  bay  and 
river  of  Delaware.  My  friends4 were  enchanted  to 
see  me  recuperating  so  unexpectedly.  Next  day, 
July  4th,  shortly  before  noon,  we  landed  in  Phila- 
delphia at  the  foot  of  Water  Street,  making  fast  to 
the  commodious  and  well-thronged  dock,  presenting 
a  fine  picture  of  shipping  life.  We  soon  found  our 
way  to  the  city.  This  was  in  a  perfect  uproar — all 
the  church  bells  ringing,  minute  guns  firing,  bunting 
and  flags  waving  from  every  housetop  and  window. 
A  compact  mass  of  humanity  in  holiday  attire,  and 
with  countenances  expressing  joy,  happiness  and 
satisfaction,  streamed  in  one  direction.  We  were 
caught  in  this  rush,  which  never  stopped  in  its 
onward  march  until  reaching  the  front  of  a  massive- 
looking  stone  edifice.  This  was,  as  we  learned  on 
inquiry,  the  State  House,  commonly  known  as 
"  Carpenter's  Hall."  A  perfect  sea  effaces  filled  the 
entire  square  in  front  of  it.  We  had  been*  hustled 
near  to  the  steps  leading  to  the  edifice.  Presently 
the  wide  portals  opened  just  as  the  clock  from  the 
dome  above  us  struck  twelve.  A  large  number  of 
grave  and  stately  men  issued  forth,  led  by  one  more 
portly  and  tall  than  all  the  rest.  They  formed 
themselves  into  a  very  picturesque  group,  ranging 
down  to  the  foot  of  the  stairs.  Their  leader,  stand- 
ing in  the  entrance  of  the  portal,  held  in  his  hand  a 
long  parchment  scroll.  This  he  unrolled  and  showed 
its  inner  contents  to  the  people.  It  was  a  closely 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  515 

written,  beautiful  manuscript-document,  signed  at 
the  end  with  many  signatures.  Then  bringing  it 
close  before  his  eyes,  he  commenced  to  read  with 
sonorous,  stentorian  voice : 

"THE  UNANIMOUS  DECLARATION  OF  THE  THIR- 
TEEN UNITED  STATES  OF  AMERICA,  IN  CONGRESS 

ASSEMBLED. 

"  When  in  the  course  of  human  events  it  becomes 
necessary  for  one  people  to  dissolve  the  political 
bands  which  have  connected  them  with  one  another, 
and  to  assume  among  the  powers  of  the  earth  the 
separate  and  equal  station  to  which  the  laws  of 
nature  and  nature's  God  entitle  them,  a  decent 
respect  to  the  opinions  of  mankind  requires  that  they 
should  declare  the  causes  which  impel  them  to  the 
separation. 

"  We  hold  these  truths  to  be  self-evident :  That 
all  men  are  created  equal ;  that  they  are  endowed 
by  their  Creator  with  certain  inalienable  rights;  that 
among  these  are  life,  liberty  and  pursuit  of  happi- 
ness ;  that  to  secure  these  rights,  governments  are 
instituted  among  men,  deriving  their  just  powers 
from  the  consent  of  the  governed ;  that  when  any 
form  of  government  becomes  destructive  of  these 
ends,  it  is  the  right  of  the  people  to  alter  or  to  abolish 
it  and  to  institute  new  government,  laying  its  founda- 
tion on  such  principles  and  organizing  its  powers  in 
such  form  as  to  them  shall  seem  most  likely  to  effect 
their  safety  and  happiness." — 

I  would  hear  no  more.  Quietly  and  stealthily  I 
slunk  away.  My  friends  did  not  notice  my  going ; 
they  were  too  much  interested  in  the  reading  of 
the  ponderous  instrument,  the  very  beginning  of 
which  upset  all  previously  conceived  notions  of- 
monarchical  government.  This  was  either  Treason  or 
Liberty.  Quickly  I  pushed  through  the  crowd  and 


516  BEN  BEOR. 

made  my  way  with  all  possible  haste  to  the  suburbs. 
I  wandered  wearily  about  as  long  as  my  feet  would 
carry  me.  Soon  I  entered  the  primeval  forest,  which 
lay  boundlessly  before  me.  Towards  night  I  felt 
famished  and  agonized  with  thirst.  Luckily  I  met 
with  a  shepherd  driving  his  flock.  I  begged  him 
for  a  morsel  of  food.  He  shared  his  supper  with  me 
and  gave  me  drink  from  his  earthen  jug.  Then 
I  proceeded,  walking  on  until  tired  nature  would 
no  longer  permit  the  exercise  of  my  limbs.  I 
lay  down  under  a  mighty  elm  tree,  whose  leafy 
crown  offered  shelter.  Here  I  slept  until  broad  day- 
light. There  was  an  abundance  of  wild  berries 
around  me.  With  these  I  stilled  my  teasing  appe- 
tite. I  always  kept  in  my  pocket  a  strong-bladed 
knife.  With  it  I  now  cut  a  fine  sapling  and  trimmed 
it  for  a  walking-stick.  Further  on  I  wandered,  not 
knowing  nor  caring  whence  or  whither  ;  all  I  craved 
for  now  was  to  get  away — hide  myself  from  mankind. 
Often  I  passed  a  solitary  house  or  a  small  settlement. 
Everywhere  they  made  inquiry  for  news  from  the 
war.  I  pretended  utter  ignorance,  but  bought  or 
begged  for  nourishment.  They  looked  upon  me  as 
one  demented.  And  well  they  might.  My  appearance 
could  certainly  be  nothing  less  than  that  of  a  maniac. 
Thus  I  went  on — how  long  I  do  not  know.  Arrived 
one  day  upon  a  high  bluff,  an  insane  desire  pro- 
pelled me  to  climb  down  into  the  deep  gulch  be- 
neath. After  many  hairbreadth  escapes  I  reached 
at  last  the  bottom  of  the  gulch.  Prospecting 
around  for  some  hours,  I  found  this  wondrous  cave. 
I  determined  to  pass  here  the  rest  of  my  days  in 
solitude  and  the  fascinating  dreams  which  now  came 
frequently  upon  me.  Sometimes  I  made  long  excur- 
sions in  every  direction.  On  one  of  these  I  found, 
miles  away,  a  small  settlement  of  woodchoppers. 
They  were  very  poor.  One  of  them  was  especially 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  517 

destitute,  having  a  large  family  dependent  upon  him 
for  support.  I  employed  him  to  do  errands  for 
me  to  the  far-off  city.  Through  him  I  supplied 
myself  with  tools,  books,  a  timepiece — in  fact,  every- 
thing I  wanted.  I  had  ample  means  and  paid  him 
well  for  his  trouble.  Whatever  he  brought  I  my- 
self carried  back  to  my  haunts,  declining  his  urgent 
offer  to  accompany  me  and  bear  the  burdens.  Nobody 
knew  whence  I  came  nor  where  I  dwelt.  I  warned 
all  never  to  follow  me,  as  I  certainly  would  shoot 
any  one  with  the  gun  which  I  now  always  carried 
when  coming  to  the  settlement.  I  forbade  them 
strictly  to  talk  to  me  about  the  war,  its  progress  or 
results ;  it  was  hateful  to  me  to  hear  anything  men- 
tioned concerning  it.  The  first  thing  I  provided  for 
myself  was  a  plentiful  supply  of  paper,  quills  and 
ink.  I  was  anxious  to  have  the  means  of  whiling 
away  some  of  my  lonesome  hours  with  writing. 
Soon  I  should  have  enough  of  this  to  do.  But  I 
must  spend  some  time  first  in  constructing  some 
rude  furniture,  to  make  my  cave  habitable.  A  table, 
a  few  chairs  and  a  low  couch  on  which  to  sleep  were 
soon  ready  for  use,  as  I  was  skilled  in  the  use  of 
tools.  A  supply  of  leaves  and  moss  was  then 
gathered  to  soften  my  hard  resting-place. 

Section  VII. — The  Recluse  of  the  Mountains. 

What  became  of  my  friends  I  never  knew,  but  can 
readily  imagine  their  consternation  and  painful 
disappointment  when  surprised  by  my  sudden  absence 
and  non-return  to  their  company.  They  could  not 
stay  long  in  Philadelphia,  as  they  were  anxiously 
expected  in  New  York,  their  new  home.  How  my 
old  heart  pined  and  longed  to  behold  only  once 
more  the  angelic  face  of  dear  Judith,  the  venerable 
countenance  of  Kabbi  Mendes.  But  this,  I  am 
afraid,  will  never  more  be  granted  to  me. 


518  BEN    BEOR. 

It  could  not  have  been  many  months  of  my  dwell- 
ing in  this  solitary  habitation,  when  one  night  I  was 
aroused  from  my  slumbers  by  that  terrific  atmos- 
pheric disturbance  fully  related  in  the  opening 
chapter  of  this  story,  inclusive  of  the  subsequent 
incidents  and  events  which  are  comprised  in  the 
pages  of  this  book,  bringing  the  narrative  of  my 
strange  life  down  to  the  present  moment.  My  task 
is  nigh  completed.  I  daily  have  grown  more  and 
more  feeble.  Yet  I  have  succeeded  in  writing 
with  my  cramped  fingers  the  long,  long  annals  of 
the  gradual  evolution  of  human  civilization,  until 
Truth,  Right  and  Liberty  at  last  are  realized. 
But  oh,  how  I  do  now  long  for  the  end  to  come! 
How  I  pray  that  these  eyes  may  close,  that  the 
aching  heart  may  be  finally  stilled  forever!  Yet 
it  seems  my  time  has  not  arrived.  There  is  still 
something  to  transpire  which  keeps  me  here,  which 
makes  my  life  linger  on. 

I  cannot  now  remember  how  many  years  I  have 
been  the  miserable  Recluse  of  these  lonely  moun- 
tains. My  memory  has  grown  even  more  senile 
than  my  body.  To-night — that  much  I  recollect — 
is  the  19th  of  October,  1781.  While  I  wrote  the 
last  pages  of  my  biographical  reminiscences,  but  an 
hour  ago,  I  began  to  feel  especially  sad,  melancholy 
and  apprehensive.  My  eyes  are  now  involuntarily 
directed  to  yonder  wall  of  record.  Lo !  it  lights  up 
again,  it  appears  radiant ;  its  dimensions  grow  to  an 
enormous  size.  Now  it  represents  a  battlefield !  A 
halo  of  indescribable  brilliancy  illuminates  the  scene. 
It  represents  the  grand  finale  of  the  War  of  Rebel- 
lion. 

The  contending  armies  form  the  background  of 
the  grand  tableau.  The  men  have  stacked  their 
guns ;  several  are  seen  in  friendly  confab ;  they 
unmistakably  fraternize  among  themselves.  Two 


HISTORICAL    PHANTASMAGORIA.  519 

heroic  forms  stand  in  front.  Old,  proud  Lord 
Cornwallis  presents  his  sword  in  surrender  to  the 
other,  a  tall,  majestic-looking  soldier,  the  great,  im- 
mortal George  Washington.  Though  proud  in  mien 
and  distinguished  in  attitude,  he  receives  the  weapon 
in  humility  and  sorrowful  dignity.  The  last  great 
act  of  the  historical  drama  of  the  colonial  war  is 
consummated :  Great  Britain  and  Monarchy  pros- 
trate ;  the  United  States  of  America,  the  Republic  and 
Freedom,  triumphant ! 

Suddenly  a  great  change  in  my  cavern  takes  place. 
A  fierce  commotion  rages  in  the  bowels  of  the -earth. 
The  mountains  overhead  rock.  The  earth  quakes. 
The  oscillations  of  the  ground  are  fearfully  long  and 
terrible  in  their  intervals  of  suspense.  A  sheen  of 
the  dawning  morning  creeps  through  the  entrance  of 
my  cave.  This  grows  and  increases  until  it  becomes 
gorgeously  brilliant  with  light.  Behold  there  stands 
once  again  the  vision  of  the  prophet  Elijah.  Look- 
ing compassionately  upon  me  for  an  instant,  he 
exclaims :  "  The  reign  of  Liberty  and  Tolerance  at 
last  has  commenced  !  By  their  united  power  the  King- 
dom of  God  is  coming.  Truth,  Right  and  Humanity 
will  sway  victorious  over  this  land.  A  self-governing 
nation  is  born,  amidst  whom  all  creeds  will  live  in  peace 
together.  No  more  oppression!  No  more  persecution ! 
The  tyrant's  and  fanatic's  work  is  finished.  Thy  end 
is  nigh.  Thy  friends  are  coming.  Depart  in  peace!  " 
Then  he  is  gone.  A  great  agony  overwhelms  my 
soul.  I  know  the  crisis  of  my  shadow-life  has  come 
at  last.  I  feel  sure  that  this  horrible,  awful,  weary 
existence  will  soon  ebb  away.  Now  it  seems  to  me 
as  if  celestial  voices  fill  the  air,  and  the  softest, 
sweetest  harmony  is  breathed  into  my  consciousness. 
The  cadence  of  this  to  me  so  familiar  refrain,  in 
wonderfully  pathetic,  soul-stirring  strains,  comes  and 
goes: 


520  BEN  BEOR. 

"  Heaven's  promise,  Mercy's  token, 
Are,  like  diamonds,  never  broken." 

Then,  as  if  my  soul  at  last  had  burst  its  prison- 
chains  of  malediction,  I  cry  out  the  Psalm  words 
(cxviii.),  now  crowding  upon  my  memory :  "  In  my 
deep  distress  I  called  unto  the  Lord  and  He  answered 
me!" 

ADDENDUM  II. 

Missing  Links  Found. 

The  foregoing  words  from  King  David's  songs  are 
the  last  on  the  final  page  of  the  manuscript  written 
by  the  Recluse.  Towards  the  end  the  chirography 
becomes  nearly  illegible ;  trembling  and  faintness  of 
the  fingers  are  visible  in  every  letter.  Appended  to 
the  writings  are  several  sheets  in  entirely  different 
penmanship  and  style.  Their  contents  explain  and 
fill  out  some  portions  of  the  Recluse's  narrative  and 
complete  it  by  giving  the  final  catastrophe,  with 
which  ends  the  career  and  existence  of  the  "  Wander- 
ing Gentile."  So  they  form  a  necessary  adjunct  to 
this  story,  and  are  therefore  published  in  connection 
therewith  as  its  closing  and  final  episode. 

THE  EDITOR  AND  PUBLISHER. 

Section   VIII. — The  Last  Episode.     Rabbi  Perez 
Mendes'  Story. 

By  the  pressing  and  anxious  desire  of  my  dear 
daughter  Judith,  I,  Rabbi  Mendes,  use  some  leisure- 
hours  occurring  but  sparsely  in  my  arduous  duties, 
to  place  on  record  some  incidents  connected  with  my 
personal  experiences.  They  have  reference  to  the 
Manuscript-story,  which  has  come  into  our  posses- 
sion as  a  legacy  from  the  author,  and  to  some  extent 
explain  and  complete  that  curious  and  interesting 
work. 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  521 

We  had  become  intimately  acquainted  several 
years  ago  with  the  mysterious  author,  who  had 
shown  feelings  of  real  friendship  for  myself  and 
daughter.  Crossing  the  ocean  together  on  our  coming 
to  America,  we  reached  Philadelphia  on  the  4th  of 
July,  1776,  and  were  just  in  time  to  have  the  great 
fortune  of  hearing  the  Declaration  of  Independence 
read  at  high  noon  from  the  steps  of  the  State  House. 
Absorbed  with  keenest  interest  in  the  contents  of  that 
memorable  document,  neither  of  us  noticed  the  sud- 
den disappearance  of  our  fellow-traveller,  who  was 
lost,  no  doubt,  amidst  the  dense  crowd  which  had  as- 
sembled during  the  ringing  of  bells  and  the  boom- 
ing of  cannon.  Our  friend,  so  unexpectedly  missing, 
had  experienced  several  days  ago  a  severe  spell  of 
sickness  and  was  barely  convalescent  then.  So  our 
anxiety  and  concern  about  him  can  readily  be 
imagined.  We  hunted  all  day  for  the  lost  one,  but 
in  vain.  Next  day  I  employed  the  police  officials  to 
assist  us  in  our  search,  but  to  no  avail.  Advertise- 
ments in  the  newspapers  brought  no  better  results. 
Not  a  trace  of  him  could  be  discovered.  It  seemed 
as  if  he  had  vanished  from  the  earth.  I  lost  a  whole 
week  in  the  fruitless  effort  to  find  him.  Then  my 
departure  became  imperative,  as  I  was  anxiously  ex- 
pected in  New  York.  Arriving  there  safely,  and 
after  a  warm  welcome  and  installation  into  my  min- 
isterial office,  I  still  continued  my  efforts  and  en- 
gaged the  help  of  many  friends  to  unearth  the 
whereabouts  of  our  deeply  mourned  Ben  Beor.  But 
all  without  success.  Time  passed  on  quickly  and  the 
stirring  events  of  the  war  with  England  made  us  at 
last  forget  the  hapless  person  in  whom  we  had  taken 
such  deep  interest.  Judith  was  soon  wooed  and  won 
by  one  of  the  wealthiest  and  best  of  New  York  mer- 
chants, an  influential  member  of  my  congregation 
and  a  congenial  companion,  who  shared  with  me  the 


522  BEN  BEOR. 

same  boundless  enthusiasm  for  the  now  struggling 
cause  of  the  young  Republic.  We  idolized  George 
Washington,  with  whom  we  became  personally  and 
intimately  acquainted,  serving  him  financially  and 
in  many  other  and  important  ways.  This  was 
widely  and  publicly  known.  When,  therefore,  un- 
fortunately reverses  of  the  most  trying  and  bitter 
kind  overtook  the  ill-disciplined  and  easily  disor- 
ganized American  militia,  it  became  necessary  about 
the  middle  of  September,  1776,  for  the  undaunted 
commander  to  evacuate  New  York.  The  city  was 
immediately  taken  possession  of  by  the  British  under 
General  Howe.  A  large  number  of  treacherous 
Tories,  who  had  kept  under  cover  until  then,  let 
themselves  loose  upon  all  patriotic  citizens  ;  security 
of  property  and  life  for  us  unfortunates  ceased  to 
exist.  Being  among  the  most  hated  and  singled  out 
for  persecution  and  brutal  treatment,  myself,  daugh- 
ter and  her  husband  found  it  necessary  to  seek  safety 
by  flight.  Shelter  and  security  being  offered  us  by 
friends  in  Albany,  we  escaped  successfully  from  the 
hard-tried  metropolis  and  reached,  after  many  diffi- 
culties, hardships  and  dangers,  our  place  of  refuge. 
The  journey  thither  took  nearly  a  week.  Here  we 
enjoyed  the  generous  hospitalities  and  kindest  treat- 
ment at  the  hands  of  our  Jewish  compatriots  and 
remained  till  nearly  the  end  of  the  war.  At  last, 
when  all  danger  was  considered  over,  on  the  morning 
of  October  19th,  1781,  we  took  the  stage,  then  the 
only  conveyance,  for  our  return  to  the  now  liberated 
city  of  New  York.  This  journey  through  the  yet 
scantily  explored  southern  counties  of  the  State  ordi- 
narily took  about  four  days.  The  primitive  high- 
way, since  the  arrival  of  peaceful  times,  is  obliter- 
ated and  forgotten.  The  road  was  built  by  and  at 
the  expense  of  neighboring  communities. 

On  the  second  night  of  this  fatiguing  travel  an 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  523 

unexpected  accident  occurred  to  us.  The  stage  had 
reached  by  this  time  the  acclivity  leading  over  Mount 
Riga,  which  we  must  traverse.  The  horses  labored 
pantingly  up  the  serpentine  road  which  gradually 
led  to  the  pinnacle  of  the  wooded  highlands.  We 
had  snugly  ensconced  ourselves  in  the  lumbering 
stage  and  had  dozed  away  during  the  slow  and 
wearisome  progress  of  the  team.  The  night  was 
intensely  dark.  As  we  neared  the  top  of  the  high 
hill  all  were  suddenly  and  rudely  awakened  from 
our  slumbers.  The  coach,  without  any  previous 
warning,  was  overthrown,  and  we  found  ourselves, 
bruised  and  sore,  pitched  in  the  road.  The  horses 
acted  like  frenzied,  and  after  snorting,  cavorting  and 
rearing  wildly,  succeeded  in  breaking  loose  from 
the  battered  and  nearly  demolished  vehicle  and  ran 
frantically  away.  The  ground  trembled  and  heaved. 
We  heard  the  giant  pines  and  oaks  of  the  surround- 
ing forest  snap  like  reeds.  It  was  the  most  fearful 
earthquake  that  ever  had  convulsed  this  region. 
Presently  all  became  silent.  Thus  we  found  our- 
selves so  unexpectedly  placed  upon  this  peculiar 
hillside.  When  the  first  shock  of  the  awful  occur- 
rence had  passed,  we  made  a  hasty  survey  of  our 
untoward  position.  The  driver,  who  foresaw  the 
catastrophe,  had  sprung  from  his  seat  and  was  but 
little  hurt.  When  sufficiently  recovered  and  com- 
posed, a  consultation  took  place  to  decide  what  was 
best  to  be  done  under  the  hapless  circumstances. 
Without  assistance  it  was  clear  that  it  was  impossible 
for  us  to  proceed.  No  regular  conveyance  became 
due  till  the  following  night,  and  other  travel  there 
was  none. 

We  finally  decided  that  nothing  could  be  attempted 
for  the  present  but  to  make  ourselves  comfortable  for 
the  rest  of  the  night  as  circumstances  would  permit. 
Judith  and  her  husband  crept  back  into  the  coach, 


524  BEN  BEOR. 

which  was  righted  with  great  difficulty  for  that  pur- 
pose. I  and  the  driver  made  ourselves  easy  with  our 
great-coats  and  with  cushions  from  the  seats  as  pil- 
lows, lying  down  on  the  bare  ground.  Sleepless  the 
dark  night  wore  away.  With  the  first  dawn  of  morn- 
ing we  all  arose.  The  driver  of  the  coach  volun- 
teered to  find  the  next  settlement,  from  whence  to 
bring  assistance.  He  soon  started  on  this  errand 
and  left  us  to  while  away  the  time  as  best  we  might. 
The  sun  had  fully  risen  now  and  revealed  a  wild  yet 
sublime  landscape.  Imagine  who  can  our  astonish- 
ment when  in  this  forlorn  position  we  all  at  once 
were  startled  by  hearing  from  the  deep  gulch  below, 
in  clear  yet  quivering  tones,  like  the  trembling  voice 
of  an  aged  man,  the  distinctly  pronounced  words  of 
Psalm  cxviii.  4,  sung  in  a  familiar  tune :  "  In  my 
great  distress  I  called  upon  the  Lord  and  He  an- 
swered me  !  "  For  some  time  we  listened  and  stood 
with  folded  hands  and  upturned  eyes.  The  voice 
had  long  since  died  away  amidst  the  wakened  echoes 
of  the  hills,  yet  there  we  stood  in  the  attitude  de- 
scribed, when  presently  Judith  pointed  to  a  spot  near 
our  left,  thus  far  unnoticed.  It  revealed  steps  cut 
into  the  side  of  the  rock,  leading  downwards.  Forth- 
with all  three  of  us  were  there,  and  to  our  amaze- 
ment saw  a  well-worn  footpath  leading  to  the  yet 
undiscernible  depth.  Holding  one  another  by  the 
hand,  the  young  husband  in  advance,  we  care- 
fully descended  step  by  step,  often  trembling  lest  our 
feet  might  slip  on  the  ground  covered  with  the  hoar 
frost  of  autumn.  This  would  hurl  us  headlong  to 
the  bottom.  Thus  we  finally  reached  the  foot  of 
the  hill.  But  greater  surprises  were  yet  in  store  for 
us.  Through  the  narrow  lane  which  we  saw  at  some 
distance  away  from  us,  rolled  in  mirror-like  placidity 
the  clear,  silvery  waters  of  a  rivulet.  We  proceeded 
thither.  At  the  crystalline  bottom  of  the  little  stream 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  525 

we  could  see  an  endless  number  of  piscatorial  ten- 
ants of  all  sizes  and  colors  disport  themselves  amidst 
the  pebbles  and  moss-covered  stones  which  had 
rolled  in  there  plentifully  from  the  heights.  In  front 
of  us  was  a  wide  opening  into  the  hill,  and  as  we 
directed  our  glances  to  this  portal  of  the  mountain, 
a  sight  was  revealed  which  dazzled  our  eyes.  An 
immense  cave  was  lying  open  before  us,  wherein 
stalactites  of  all  forms  and  shapes  glistened  and 
glinted  in  the  sheen  of  a  lamp  which  hung  burning 
from  the  ceiling.  The  appearance  of  the  whole  place 
resembled  some  of  those  apartments  in  Oriental 
palaces  described  with  such  flambent  imagination  in 
the  story  of  the  Arabian  Nights.  We  hesitatingly 
entered.  The  ground  was  perfectly  dry,  hard,  re- 
markably smooth  and  level.  As  soon  as  our  sight 
became  accustomed  to  the  peculiar  light  which  was 
shed  over  the  whole  surroundings,  we  beheld  near 
where  the  lamp  was  suspended,  lying  on  a  litter  of 
leaves  and  moss,  a  most  venerable-looking  man. 
His  long  beard  and  flowing  hair,  both  silver  white, 
came  into  conspicuous  notice.  He  slowly  lifted  his 
head  and  rose  with  painful  exertion  to  a  sitting  pos- 
ture. His  sunken  eyes  glistened  brightly,  though 
his  body  shook  and  trembled.  With  audible,  but 
quivering  voice  he  cried  :  "  Come  right  in,  dear 
people!  I  knew  you  would  be  here!  I  have  ex- 
pected you,  oh  so  long !  Night  after  night  have  I 
seen  you  come  in  my  dreams.  I  have  beheld  all 
this.  I  knew  God  would  not  forsake  me  in  my  last 
hours.  I  recognize  you  well.  Lady,  you  are  dear 
Judith,  my  poet  friend.  Thou,  reverend  sir,  art 
Rabbi  Perez  Mendes — the  same  faces  and  features 
that  are  so  affectionately  impressed  on  my  memory. 
But  there  are  three  of  you ;  I  knew  of  only  two. 
Well,  be  seated  ;  there  is  room  for  all.  The  supreme 
moment  of  my  departure  from  earth  is  at  hand. 


526  BEN  BEOR. 

Listen  to  the  last  wish  and  final  bequest  of  your  old 
friend,  now  a  dying  man." 

We  newcomers,  who  stood  aghast  at  seeing  the 
strange  apparition,  hearing  the  still  stranger  words, 
mechanically  took  the  seats  to  which  we  were 
motioned  by  the  bony,  withered  hands.  My 
daughter  and  I  recognized  our  dear,  long  lost  and 
now  so  strangely  found  friend.  Then,  "  Ben  Beor," 
for  it  was  he,  continued  to  speak,  tremblingly- 
broken  and  often  gasping  for  breath  : — "  It  is  now 
many  years  since  I  have  lost  myself  here  and  became  a 
Recluse  in  these  mountains.  How  many  years  I  do 
not  remember.  Here  I  have  lived  the  life  of  a 
dreamer.  My  few  wants  were  easily  supplied. 
Yonder  brook  gave  me  drink ;  fish,  roots  and  ber- 
ries supplied  food.  I  studied  the  books  you  see 
lying  around.  There  are  also  the  tools  with  which 
I  worked.  My  existence  has  been  one  continued 
hallucination  and  trance-like  vision.  While  these 
were  upon  me  I  wrote  the  story  of  my  life.  Ever 
since  this  was  finished,  and  repeatedly  before,  I  saw 
you,  dear  friends,  come  to  me  once  more,  to  renew 
the  old  and  deeply  cherished  memory.  Now  mark 
attentively  my  words :  There  lie  the  rolls  of  my 
manuscript.  I  have  sealed  them  up  into  two  pack- 
ages. Take  them  now !  I  make  you  conjointly  my 
heirs  and  testators.  It  is  my  last  will  that  the  seals 
of  the  packages  shall  never  be  broken  until  peace  in 
this  country  is  fully  established.  After  this  has 
come  to  pass,  read  together  the  curious  annals.  And 
now  take  my  hand  in  token  that  you  accept  the  trust 
and  will  scrupulously  comply  with  my  wishes.  You, 
dear  sir,  whom  I  do  not  know,  be  our  witness  that 
my  dying  request  is  granted !  And  now,  since  you 
all  have  signified  that  you  are  sacredly  pledged  in 
accepting  my  last  testament,  take  the  rolls — depart ! 
Stay  not  another  moment!  An  earthquake  last  night 


HISTORICAL  PHANTASMAGORIA.  527 

has  broken  several  pillars  that  uphold  this  immense 
cavity.  Repeatedly  all  here  has  shaken  and  trem- 
bled. Presently  the  mountain-side  above  us  will  be 
crushed  and  crumbled.  Flee,  therefore,  from  here,  flee 
for  your  lives !  Begone,  quick,  quick — else  it  will 
be  too  late — too  late ! " 

The  speaker  fell  back  exhausted.  We  felt  indeed 
a  strong  and  continuous  tremor  pervade  the  whole 
atmosphere.  Certainly  there  was  no  time  to  lose. 
We  begged  and  entreated  the  Recluse  to  make  an 
effort  and  come  away  with  us.  We  two  men  bent 
over  him,  attempting  to  lift  and  carry  him  away. 
But  he,  with  a  struggle  not  expected  in  one  so  aged 
and  failing,  resisted.  "  Fools!"  he  yelled  at  the  top 
of  his  unearthly  voice,  "  shall  we  all  die  ?  Kiss  me 
but  once  on  my  forehead,  my  angel,  my  Judith,  then 
begone — quick,  begone !" 

There  was  no  help  for  it.  Judith  wept,  but  she 
did  as  bid.  Then  we  snatched  the  rolls  amidst  the 
rumble  and  rattle  caused  by  some  mighty  convulsion 
in  the  bowels  of  the  earth.  We  ran  for  our  lives. 
When  reaching  the  outside  we  fled  to  a  far-away  dis- 
tance. Now  there  occurred  one  terrific,  stunning, 
deafening  crash.  It  buried  the  Recluse,  the  cave  and 
all  therein,  while  a  column  of  dust  and  rocks  rose 
skyward  from  the  rebound  of  the  avalanche  of  the 
fallen  debris. 

Soon  afterwards  the  shouts  of  our  now  returning 
driver  were  heard  by  us,  the  exhausted  and  deeply 
moved  travellers.  He  had  fortunately  met  with  a 
party  of  discharged  soldiers  who  were  on  their  way 
homeward.  We  joined  them  and  were  conducted  to 
the  nearest  settlement.  Were  it  not  that  we  had  in 
our  possession  the  two  large  rolls  of  manuscripts  to 
testify  to  the  reality,  the  past  events  would  have 
been  taken  by  us  for  a  terrible  illusion. 

The  next  stage-coach  took  us  to  our  destination, 


528  BEN  BEOR. 

where  we  arrived  safely  on  the  following  evening. 
Our  lives  soon  went  on  in  their  accustomed  smooth 
and  happy  way.  True  to  our  pledge,  the  manu- 
scripts were  carefully  stored  away  until  the  war  was 
ended  with  the  recognition  by  Great  Britain  of  the 
independence  of  the  Republic  as  the  United  States 
of  America.  On  the  3d  of  September,  1783,  the 
definite  treaty  of  peace  between  the  two  contending 
parties  was  signed  at  Paris  in  France.  On  the  18th 
of  October  Congress  issued  the  same  to  the  American 
people.  There  was  rejoicing,  glorification,  ringing 
of  bells,  firing  of  cannons,  and  public  worship  all  over 
the  land. 

We  fitly  celebrated  the  day  by  breaking  the 
seals  of  our  inheritance,  and  commenced  to  read 
the  chapters  of  the  strange  and  certainly  interesting 
story.  It  took  us  nearly  all  winter  to  finish  it. 
When  this  was  achieved,  I  wrote  the  short  sequel 
which  seemed  necessary  to  complete  the  work. 
Gladly  would  I  have  proceeded  at  once  to  have  the 
manuscript  printed  in  book-form,  but  the  financial 
condition  of  the  country  was  very  much  disturbed, 
and  no  publisher  could  be  found  to  undertake  so 
extensive  and  costly  an  enterprise.  So  this  must  be 
postponed  to  a  more  auspicious  time.  When  this 
once  shall  be  done  it  will  be  an  everlasting  monu- 
ment to  the  memory  of  our  dear,  unhappy  friend, 
BEN  BEOR,  THE  WANDERING  GENTILE  AND  ANTI- 
MESSIAH. 


THE   END. 


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